More than it seems
by Dellinah
Summary: Richard Wilde, a name Nick despised and never expected to hear again. However, fate had other plans when Judy just happens to find his long-lost brother – who just happens to be involved in something Nick would never expect. Before he knows it, Judy and he must decide whether to side with the law, or with those they care about.
1. The lie

**Hello guys!**

 **God, I try so hard not to work at so many fics at once, but this idea just hit me and I had to work with it! Zootopia is my new obsession and I've been trying to come up with a story for it. Considering how Nick is my favorite character and I adore sibling stories, this is what came up in my head.**

 **Also this is just a very vague and short prologue; some of its details will be brought up and explained later on. It just seemed to be the best way to start the story. I promise next chapter will be longer, better and set on the present.**

 **Also, since Nick's full name is Nicholas; I named his brother Richard so that his nickname would be Rick. I just thought Nick and Rick sounded cute. Since in Zootopia animals age like humans, Nick is 10 and Rick in 16 in this flashback.**

 **Well, I hope you like it!**

* * *

 _Empty._

 _That's how it felt when Rick's eyes fell upon the cold piece of stone where his mother's name had been carved in, a painful reminder that she had ceased to be. He tried to understand that she no longer existed, but it was like his brain refused to acknowledge that. Deep inside, he still hoped that when he got home she would be there, waiting for him to give him dinner and tuck him into bed with a soft goodnight._

 _But that was never going to happen again._

 _The cold wind blew, fluttering his orange fur. Rick felt a shiver going down his spine, but he was too focused on the tombstone in front of him to care for the cold weather around him._

 _What was he going to do now? He was all by himself. Things were already hard enough when he had both his parents with him, now everything was surely going to collapse at once..._ _The ruins that long struggled not to fall would finally lose what fragile strength kept them together all that time and become nothing but ashes._

 _Rick was brought out of his thoughts when a little cold hand closed around his._

 _"Rick?" A soft voice called him._

 _The older fox shook his head back to reality and looked down at his brother, who looked at him with scared eyes. His face was still wet from all the tears he had shed that afternoon that they spent in their mother's funeral._

 _Rick sighed and held Nick's hand back, closing his fingers tightly around the little fox's paw as he forced a smile. He was so sad that his face almost hurt when he did so, but he needed to be strong for his little brother. Even if it was all an act, Nick had to believe he was fine._

 _"I'm cold." Nick said, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the side of Rick's body as he shivered, drying his tears on his brother's shirt._

 _"I know." Rick said with a sigh. He released Nick's hand and bent over to grab Nick, taking the smaller fox in his arms. Nick wrapped his arms around Rick's neck and rested his head against Rick's shoulder as Rick hugged him and tried to keep him warm. "Let's go home. It's getting late."_

 _Rick took a last look at their mother's grave before turning around to leave the cemetery. Nick sniffed as his brother carried him out of that awful place, quietly watching it as the grave got smaller and smaller with each step his brother took. He could not bear to look anymore, so he closed his eyes and buried his face deeper into his brother's shoulder. Rick noticed and rubbed his brother's back to comfort him._

 _"It's alright to cry." He whispered, both to himself and to his brother. "I miss her too."_

 _Nick waited until he heard his brother opening the old gate of the cemetery and then he heard him closing it behind him, meaning that they were finally out of that place. Only then he was brave enough to open his eyes again._

 _"What will we do now?" Nick asked, pulling himself away from Rick's shoulder so that he could look his brother in the eye._

 _Rick's heart broke inside his chest when he saw Nick's watery eyes looking at him in confusion and doubt. He wanted to smile true and tell his brother that everything was alright, that they were perfectly fine and that he had a plan to get them out of that situation; but that would be a lie. If anything, he was as lost as his little brother was. Or even more._

 _"We will be alright." Rick assured, a smile disguising his doubts about his own words. He stopped walking and put his brother on the ground, kneeling down to look at Nick in the eye. He then took Nick's hand and caressed Nick's head with his other hand, wiping his eyes in the process. "I know things may seem complicated right now, but we will be ok. We just have to... Do our best to carry on. But I need you to be strong to help me. Can you do that for me?"_

 _Nick nodded, sighing. "I'll try."_

 _"Thanks. Now come on," Rick stood up with his brother's hand in his and began walking again, "Let's go home."_

 _Nick jogged to get by his brother's side before he could be pulled by Rick's grip on his hand, walking faster than usual so that he would be by his brother's side - which was a little hard since Rick was taller and had longer legs than Nick did. Every one step he took, Nick had to take two._

 _"Hey, Rick?" He called as they walked._

 _"Hum?" Rick responded without looking at Nick and still walking._

 _"You won't leave me, will you?"_

 _That got Rick to stop in his tracks and frown, looking down at his brother with a confused face. Nick looked up at him as he waited for an answer._

 _"What? What kind of question is that?" Rick watched as Nick's hand slip from his._

 _"Well..." Nick said as he rubbed his hands together, looking down as if he was nervous. "First, it was dad. Now mom's gone too. It's like... It's like everyone I know is going away one way or another, I don't understand. The only one I have left..._ _The only one I have left_ _is you. Are you going to leave me as well?"_

 _"Nick, I..." Rick shook his head in disbelief. "Of course not! I'm never going to leave you. Especially not now. We'll always be together, no matter what."_

 _Nick looked up at Rick and sighed. "Promise?"_

 _"I'm not going to leave you."_ _Rick straightened himself up and drew an X in front of his chest with one hand as he held out the other._ _"Promise."_

 _Nick smiled. "Alright."_

 _"Yeah. Now let's go home, alright? It's getting cold." Rick said as he took Nick in his arms again, so that they would get home faster as Nick walking slowed him down. Nick sighed and rested his head against Rick's shoulder again, closing his eyes so that he could feel the motion of his brother walking. As he breathed and took in his brother's scent, his smile grew wilder._

 _'I'm not alone.' Nick thought to himself. 'He's here. We'll be ok.'_

 _And so he fell asleep on Rick's shoulder, unaware of all the lies he had just been told; and that he had told himself without knowing._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!**


	2. The fox

**Wow, I think that's the fastest I've ever updated a fic of mine after it was published! I guess it was because I was inspired and because I'm just so in love with Zootopia I can't get enough of it XD**

 **Well, thanks for the support, I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

When Judy parked her car in front of the building where Nick lived, she was surprised to see that the fox wasn't there waiting for her like he had been doing every morning for the last six months, ever since he had become a cop as well and they started to work as partners. As Nick didn't have a car of his own yet, Judy would give him a ride to work. She punctually got to his building every day at 6:30am, and he was always there waiting for her.

Except for that day.

Judy opened her window and looked from side to side, and there was no sign of the fox anywhere. She reached for her phone in her pocket and checked to see if she had come earlier than she was supposed to, but she hadn't. Raising an eyebrow, Judy tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and waited. She thought that maybe Nick had woken up late that day, like it was bound to happen eventually. He should be there any minute.

Ten minutes went by and he still hadn't appeared. Several other animals had exited the building in the meantime, and every time Judy heard the building's front door opening her ear would shoot up and she would look at the door with hopeful eyes; only to see it wasn't Nick. Tired of waiting and beginning to get a little worried, she stuck her phone down her pocket and turned off her car, opening the door and jumping out of her seat.

The bunny closed the car door and walked to the building, greeting any animal that walked by her on her way into the building. She then hastened to get to the elevator since she was running short on time. Nick lived on the sixth floor of a building that had seen better days, but it wasn't exactly bad either. Still, Judy had insisted that he could now find a new better place to live in now that he had his regular - not to mention legal - job as a cop, but he refused to leave that apartment, claiming to have lived there long enough for it to grow on him as a home.

"601, 602... 603!" Judy exclaimed to herself as she passed by the doors on the corridor before finally getting to Nick's apartment. She raised her fist and knocked on the wooden door. "Nick? Are you awake? We're a little late for work here." Giving a quick look at her phone, she saw they only had fifteen minutes left to get to the ZPD. It wasn't that far away from Nick's building, but Zootopia wasn't exactly known for having a calm traffic.

Judy's ears that were down shot up when she heard a raspy cough coming from inside the apartment, followed by Nick's voice; which was equally raspy and weak.

"I'm coming, Judy." Nick said, his voice being muffled by the door. Shortly after, Judy saw the door handle spin before the door was open to reveal the fox she was waiting for. But as soon as she saw him, Judy gasped a little in surprise. He rolled his eyes at her reaction and walked back into his apartment.

"Goodness, Nick; what happened to you?" She asked as she followed him in.

If she had to describe Nick in that very moment, _fine_ surely wasn't a word she was going to use. For one thing, just his voice was enough to let her know that there was something wrong with him; for it was faint and low, not to mention super raspy. His nose seemed to be dryer than it should be and his eyes followed the same pattern. Not only that, but he also walked with uneasiness and kept coughing and cleaning his throat as if there was something there that he just couldn't get rid of.

"Nothing happened, I'm perfectly fine." Nick said, suppressing a cough and rubbing his eyes. "I just need to find my phone and we can go. Sorry, I woke up a little late today." He said as he paced around his small living room, both to look for his phone and to avoid looking at Judy in the eye as he knew he wasn't fooling the bunny not even for a second.

"Sure." Judy said as she shook her head. "Well, I don't know what your definition of _perfectly fine_ is, but it surely diverges from mine. Nick, you're obviously sick! You can barely walk without staggering. That must be because we were out until late yesterday chasing those guys when it rained and you weren't wearing a jacket like I was. I told you that you should have." She said under her breath.

"I'm not sick." He coughed again and sniffed, wiping his nose with his hand. "I'm just coughing because there's something in my throat. It'll get out eventually. Here, found my phone, we can go."

Nick tried to walk to the door, but Judy jumped in front of him and he stopped just before he could bump into her, a little startled. Judy stood on her tiptoes and reached for Nick's head, touching his cheeks and neck.

"Gosh, Nick." She said as he backed away from her, trying to avoid her touch, but it was too late. "You're burning in fever! You can't possibly be thinking you can go to work like this. That sounds like an insane idea, even for you! You shouldn't even have left bed today. Come on, go back to bed. I'll tell chief Bogo you can't go today."

"Carrots, really, I'm fine." Nick insisted and tried to walk around her, but she jumped in front of him whenever he tried to dodge her. After around ten failed tries to walk around the rabbit, Nick looked up and sighed. "You're not going to let me get to that door, are you?"

"Nope." Judy crossed her arms in front of her chest and smiled with pride. "Nick, you can't deny it: you're sick and you're incapable of working today. Go back to bed, alright? I'll try to drop by during lunch break to see how you're doing and bring you some pills or tea or anything. The earlier you get some rest, the earlier you'll get better and the earlier you'll be able to join me solve crimes again."

Nick rolled his eyes.

"Ok then, mom, thanks for letting me skip school today for being sick!" Nick exclaimed with irony in his voice and a smile on his face that vanished when he saw that the bunny was not amused at his joke. He sighed and rolled his eyes again. "Fine, fine. I won't go to work today, but the loss is yours. I hope you don't miss me too much while you work alone."

"I'll try not to." Judy smiled and shook her head as the fox walked back to his bedroom and got out of her sight. "Later, Nick."

"Later, Carrots." He replied from his bedroom as Judy exited the apartment and rushed back to her car, realizing she only had ten minutes left to get to the ZPD.

* * *

"Sick?" Chief Bogo questioned after Judy had just given him the news. He already had selected what all the other cops would be doing for the day, and just when he was about to assign Nick's and Judy's mission he noticed that the fox wasn't there. Judy then stood up and told him about Nick's illness.

"Yeah, he's sick. Might be one of the worst colds I've ever seen. I didn't think it was prudent to let him work in such state so I convinced him to stay home." Judy noticed she had taken a decision without her boss and shrank a little. Did she even have the right to excuse Nick from work like that? "I-I hope it's ok with you, I mean, he really shouldn't have left his bed and..."

Chief Bogo held out his hand. "It is fine, Judy. If you say he wasn't in condition to work, I believe you."

Judy smiled and sighed in relief. Ever since she and Nick had found out that Bellwether was behind the animals becoming savage and solved the case together, the Chief had become a different guy towards them – in fact, towards everyone. He smiled more often and showed more kindness than he used to. He still was the same serious and tough cop he was when Judy met him, but it was impossible not to notice he had changed.

In fact, everything seemed to change after that one particular case, and for the better. Judy could not be more proud.

"I think he'll be better by tomorrow, it's just a cold. Some rest should do it. So, what do we have for today?" Judy asked.

"Well, I was going to assign you and Nick this case. There has been some mysterious theft on the richer part of Zootopia in the last week. Several animals, even some famous ones, have had some precious items stolen. No one has seen the thieves; there are no signs of forced entry, nothing. It's like what's stolen just vanishes into thin air." Bogo said as he handed Judy the folder about the case. "We believe all those crimes are being committed by the same animal or group, but we can only guess."

"Really?" Judy frowned when she opened the folder and saw how many animals had been victims of theft on the same part of town in the same period of time. With that amount of victims, it was almost impossible that the bandit wouldn't have been seen or caught at least once. Yet, it happened. Whoever it was they were dealing with, they knew exactly what they were doing.

"Yes, it really is one of the weirdest cases I've seen. There's not a single fur on the crime scenes, not a footstep, nothing. I was going to ask you and Nick to go investigate, but you can go by yourself if you want." Bogo said as he looked down at the bunny. He could tell she was wondering about what to do by the way her eyes wandered across the folder she had in her hands.

Judy had to admit that that sounded exciting. Ever since the big savage case, all she had done was solve some smaller cases with Nick's help; nothing like the case she had in her hands. That case had been open for a week now, the most one of her cases had ever lasted was three days or so. And absolutely no witnesses, precious items stolen, a clean crime scene and not a single sign of forced entry, even in the houses that had the best security? That was one smart thief. A smart thief was always a challenge.

And Judy loved challenges.

But without Nick, it wouldn't be as fun. More than that, he knew thieves as he used to be one of them. Well, he was never a thief, more like a liar and a cheat; but still. If there was someone who would know how to catch someone that sneaky, it would be Nick. It almost felt useless to try and investigate without him.

"I suppose you already have some other cops working on this?" Judy asked, still with the folder in her hands.

"Of course, like I said it's been going on for over a week now. I would have assigned you two earlier, but you were busy with those other thieves until yesterday when you caught them."

Judy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, returning the folder to Bogo. She was so excited that it almost hurt when he took it.

"With all due respect, Chief, I would like to ask permission to join this case after my partner Nick is back to work." She said, putting her hands on her back. "I just think his previous knowledge would be really useful for this. But if he's not back in two days, then I'll go by myself. I mean, if that's ok with you, sir."

Bogo shrugged. "It's fine by me, but this really is the only case I had planned for you today. Which means you'll have to do..."

Judy rolled her eyes, her head falling back in annoyance. He didn't even have to finish his sentence.

"Parking duty?" She asked through her clenched teeth.

"Parking duty." Bogo smiled slightly and nodded, feeling a bit of pity.

"Fine." Judy couldn't believe her own words. "I'll do it. You know, just like the old days. It may be better that way, I mean, Nick lives alone and I had to leave him by himself when I came to work. So I'll make sure to write a hundred tickets as fast as I can, and then I'll be free to check on him. You know, see if he's doing fine and maybe take him to a doctor if he needs." She said with a smile. Even in the worst of situations, Judy always tried to be optimistic.

"That's the spirit." Bogo said as he walked toward the door, Judy following him. As soon as they were out of the room, they parted ways.

* * *

Two hours flew by faster than Judy ever expected them to. She was only one ticket away from a hundred, and that was even faster than what she had done on her first day at the ZPD. Even if parking duty was far from being her favorite thing to do, she had to admit she was quite proud of herself. Judy believed that no matter what you were doing, you had to give your best. Even if it seemed to be insignificant, a job well done was never wasted. That was something she had learnt in her childhood and to that day it was her motto for life.

Judy was still impressed at herself when she heard that familiar sound; a caliper that had just expired. Judy turned around and saw it when one of the calipers behind her turned from green to red, meaning that it had expired. She smiled and ran to it, her fingers flying across the keyboard of her little machine as she printed the ticket that was also her ticket to freedom. Now that she had done a hundred, she was free for the rest of the day.

With a smile on her face despite the names she had been called that day for giving the tickets, Judy went back to the little car she used when doing parking duty. However, just when she was about to turn it on and drive back to the ZPD to get her car back so that she could go visit Nick, she heard a sound.

It wasn't the sound of a caliper expiring, but rather the sound of someone bumping into someone and several things being dropped on the floor, and those sounds were accompanied by complains and a few bad words. Suspecting it to be someone trying to steal something, Judy jumped out of her small car and searched for where it had come from, but soon she saw there was no crime involved.

A few feet away from Judy, in the same sidewalk that she was, a fox had bumped into a lion and dropped what seemed to be groceries on the ground.

"Hey, don't you watch where you going?" The lion said angrily.

"I-I'm so sorry, I really am." The fox rushed out, shrinking in fear under the lion's gaze. He covered his head with his hands, afraid, but rather than starting a fight the lion just walked around him and carried on walking. The fox sighed in relief, but when he knelt down to grab what he had dropped the lion gave a step back and kicked the fox's back with his heel; and then started to walk again as if he hadn't done anything wrong. The fox fell on the ground face first, and even if several animals were watching, nobody did anything.

Judy watched the scene with wild eyes and a sad feeling. Nick surely was helping to change everyone's minds about foxes, after all he was a fox and had become a hero, but Judy knew that getting rid of a prejudice wasn't something easy. Fox repellants were still made and most animals still saw foxes as unworthy, untrustworthy and heartless.

Like she once saw Nick.

Taking a deep breath she approached the fox that was still lying on the ground, and reached out for him.

"Hum, hey." Judy smiled.

The fox shook his head and looked at the bunny in front of him. At first he seemed to be confused, but when he noticed she was a cop his eyes widened and he jumped up.

"I, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to bump into him, I swear that was all I did, and I didn't steal any of this, I can prove that I paid if you just-"

"Hey, calm down." Judy said. "I was just going to ask if you're alright. I saw what happened, it wasn't your fault. You just bumped into someone, that's not a crime. If anything I should go after that lion for kicking you."

The fox rubbed his eyes and shook his head, smiling in relief when he took in Judy's words and letting out a small chuckle. "I'm ok, thanks for the concern. But it's ok; he had the right to be mad. I guess I really wasn't looking where I was going and now look at what I've done. Well, sorry for wasting your time, you can go now."

"I'm not wasting my time; I'm doing what is right and checking on you. Now I'll do what is right again and help you pick up what you dropped, like that lion should have done. Oh, if I had gotten here before he disappeared in the middle of that crowd I would have given him a lesson about how to treat people." Judy said, her nose twitching in anger; but she quickly calmed down and started grabbing the groceries on the floor.

"You don't have to..." The fox started to say, but then sighed with a smile. "Well, thank you." He said before he also started to pick up the things he dropped.

As they did so, Judy analyzed the fox. They were quite rare in Zootopia, so that one must have been the third or fourth she had ever seen since she moved there, not counting Nick. He had a fur more orange than red, which was a little weird at first for someone who was used to having a fox with a fur that was a deep shade of red by her side every day. His fur went well with his eyes, which were green. On the top of his head there was a tuft of fur that fell over his eyes and made him look a little younger than he was; and there were small tufts of fur on his cheeks as well.

Judy couldn't help but notice that the clothes he wore were torn and old, and he seemed like he could use some more hours of sleep than whatever much he got the night before, the bags under his eyes being the proof of that statement.

"There, that was the last one." He said as Judy put an orange inside the paper bag he was using to carry his stuff. "I cannot say how grateful I am you stopped to help me. Thank you a lot, officer. I'm not used to seeing kindness. Not towards me, at least."

"That was my pleasure." She then approached him and continued her sentence in a whisper. "You know, I know people can have really bad attitudes toward foxes sometimes, and I wanted to apologize for that. The way that lion treated you wasn't right, fox or not. If you ever need anything, I'd be glad to help."

The grateful smile on his face made Judy's day worth it. If she had accepted to go investigate the case by herself, she wouldn't have been there to help him and give him what seemed to be the first act of kindness he had experienced his entire life.

"That really means more than I can say. Thank you again, officer...?"

"Hopps. Judy Hopps." She said, reaching out.

"Richard." He smiled as he took her hand with his and shook it. "But you may call me Rick."

Judy couldn't help but giggle at the coincidences. Parking duty and meeting a fox that wasn't being treated right already brought her some memories; and then she found his name was Rick? Talk about deja vu.

"Well, it was great to meet you, Judy, but I have to go. Thanks again! Hope I see you around."

"Goodbye!" She said as she waved and watched it as he turned around and went to his car. Judy was about to do the same when she heard a metallic sound that she wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't for her incredible hearing. Then she saw that something silver had dropped from the fox's pocket, but he probably didn't notice it as he just kept on walking.

Judy ran to the object on the floor and saw that it was an old pocket watch that seemed to be worth a lot. She looked ahead and ran when she saw that Rick was already inside his car.

"Rick, wait, you dropped-"

But it was too late. Before she could even finish her sentence, he already had turned his car on and taken it to the street. He wouldn't hear her. However, before his car could get out of sight, Judy quickly put the watch in her pocket and took out her notepad and carrot pen so that she could write down his plate number. Then all she needed to do was go ask Flash to run it for her and she would be able to give him his watch back.

 _6-8-J-G-W-8-1._ Judy thought to herself as she wrote it down.

"I think Nick won't mind it if I go to the DMV before I go see how he's doing." Judy shrugged and walked back to her car.

As she did so, she took the watch from her pocket and examined it. It was indeed made of silver, and it seemed to be old because of all the scratches it had - yet it worked and shined as if it was new. There was a silver chain attached to it, but Judy could tell that unlike the watch, the chain was just some costume jewelry. She thought of how happy Rick would be once she gave it back to him and smiled, feeling that warm feeling she got inside her whenever she did what was right.

However, her smile didn't last long.

It vanished from her face as soon as her eyes fell upon what was carved on the back of the watch, her jaw dropping in surprise and shock as she read it over and over again but refused to believe her own eyes.

 _Property of Richard P. Wilde._

* * *

 **Well, Nick's brother surely made a good first impression on Judy. What about you guys?**

 **Thanks for reading, see yah next chapter!**


	3. The baby

**I wrote this quite fast! I was having a hard time writing anything because I was feeling lazy, but I guess Zootopia just really inspired me! Well, I hope you like this chapter! It surely was very fun to write.**

* * *

Judy stood outside her car; key already in hand but eyes and brain focused on the watch she had on her other hand.

Raising her head to look at the direction where Rick had gone off to, Judy tried to process what had just happened as a crazy theory started to run wild in her head. Meeting another fox in Zootopia when she was doing parking duty and helping said fox was already too much coincidence, and now she also found that that fox had the exact same last name as Nick.

Sure, some animals shared same last names but weren't related at all; but what were the chances that two animals of the same specie would have the same last name and not be related? But then again, the thought that Judy would randomly happen to find Nick's family in a city as big as Zootopia felt just as absurd.

Whatever the truth turned out to be, it would be weird.

Judy shook her head and focused on her current task, to return Rick's watch to him. If he found that such a precious belonging of him was missing he was sure to freak out; so the sooner Judy gave it back the better it would be. If she was fast enough, maybe she would be able to give it to him before he even realized that it wasn't in his pocket anymore.

With a jump, Judy got into her small car and drove it into the street. She thought of going to the ZPD to retrieve her own car and then go to the DMV, but then again she thought that it would consume precious time she could be using to accomplish her mission. With a nod, she turned left and hoped Flash wouldn't be on break when she got there.

As her small car drove through the streets, Judy allowed herself to think some more about her theory.

Rick surely wasn't old enough to be Nick's father or anything like that. They seemed to be around the same age, if anything Nick was just two or three years younger than Rick. Judy's best guest was that they could be cousins. They didn't really look alike; perhaps shared a little resemblance on the face shape and ear size but that was it. The fur and eye color were completely different, especially the fur color. And Rick was visibly taller, too.

But then again, if Nick had a cousin or whatever, wouldn't Judy know about them? He had met her parents when they came to visit her a few weeks before, and even some of her siblings. When she asked Nick about his family, all he said was that he had lost both his parents when he was a kid. Judy felt bad for asking, so she didn't bother to go any further on the conversation, but still. He could have mentioned a living relative first and then told her about his parents. Had he consciously chosen to keep her from knowing about Rick? It hurt a little to think there was something he'd hide from her after all they had been through together in the last months.

No, Nick wouldn't do that. After all, he told her about the muzzle incident when he was a kid; if he had spilled that out there was nothing he would hide from her.

Judy stopped at a red light and sighed, closing her eyes to clear her thoughts. It went against all the odds, but she knew that Nick and Rick were probably just one of those one in one million coincidences that you only see once in your life. They were just two foxes that shared the same last name – and a similar nickname. After all, if Nick knew Rick, Judy would know about it.

However, Judy could almost see a little lamp lighting up above her head when an idea hit her; and it got her so pumped that she didn't even notice it when the traffic light turned green. She just stared down at the steering wheel with wild eyes and a slightly open mouth.

What if they were related, but didn't know it?

Chief Bogo would say that Judy had been reading too many fantasy novels if she told him about it, but it made perfect sense in that situation. Two foxes that had the same last name and had nothing to do with each other would be way too much coincidence in Judy's opinion. What if they were cousins and never met each other because the families went separate ways?

It was crazy to think that such a cliché topic for fiction novels could happen in real life, but crazy did not mean impossible.

A car honk behind her brought Judy back to reality and she realized she was holding up the traffic. She shook her head and yelled apologies as she stepped on the accelerator and took a deep breath. If Nick and Rick were somehow related, Judy was going to find out about it. It was a decision she had made, and when Judy Hopps made a decision, nothing could convince her to let it go.

* * *

Judy got to the DMV after a few minutes of driving. Ever since the Night Howler incident, she and Nick kept coming to Flash whenever they needed a favor, was it related to a case or not. That guy could be slow, but he was always up to helping out his friends and that was something Judy truly appreciated.

As soon as the automatic doors opened for her, Judy's eyes fell upon Flash's window and she sighed in relief when she saw that he wasn't occupied helping anyone else. She smiled and ran to Flash's counter, the sloth only then noticing the rabbit.

"Hey, Flash, how are you doing?"

"Hey... Judy. I... am doing... just... fine..."

"That's great! I was hoping you could-"

"... Today." Flash finished, causing Judy to stop in mid-sentence.

Judy scrunched her nose in annoyance. No matter how many times she talked to the sloth, she would always assume he had finished his sentence when he had not. She waited just a few more seconds to be sure he was done before she began to speak again.

"So, as I was saying, I was hoping you could help me again. You see, I have to find where the animal who owns the car with this plate lives. Can you run a plate for me again?"

"Sure. What's... the... number...?"

"6-8-"

"... of... the plate?"

Judy bit her lip and took a deep breath.

"Here." She said, laying her notepad on the counter, open on the page where she had written the plate. "That's the number."

Flash still took pretty long to type the number, but it surely went faster that way than when she dictated it to him. Not only that, but that time Nick wasn't there to slow the sloth down even more by telling him a joke. A few minutes later, he was done and handed Judy the little record with the information about the plate.

"Thank you!" She said as she yanked it from Flash's hand and made sure the name and the plate number were correct. Judy smiled when she saw that he had typed it correctly and that that vehicle did belong to Richard P. Wilde; and now she had this address. Giving him his watch back now was going to be a cinch. "That's exactly what I needed! Bye, Flash!"

Judy turned around and ran to the door, almost bumping into some animals on her way as she was not able to contain her excitement.

"You're... welcome." Flash said at last, even if the bunny had already left.

* * *

Judy had never been in the part of Zootopia where Rick lived, so finding his house was harder than she thought it would be at first. He lived at least twenty minutes away from the place where she had seen him bump into that lion, and that really got Judy wondering about why he would go that far away just to buy groceries if he could just go somewhere nearer to do so.

Judy shivered as she rode through the streets and tried to find the house that had the number 54 on it. That neighborhood made Nick's apartment seem like a luxury hotel. Judy had seen worse, but it was still pretty bad. Most of the sidewalks were covered in trash, as if nobody bothered to use the trashcans in years. The walls of the houses were full of cracks and graffiti that surely did not mean 'welcome'. Unlike the rest of the city, there weren't any crowds of busy animals walking around there. The streets were pretty empty, and sometimes it felt like it was abandoned; but the sounds around Judy told her otherwise. She could hear talks, TV sounds and everything else you'd expect from a city.

A smile appeared on Judy's face when she finally found it, the house that had the number 54 on its walls. It was a small, light green house with a fence around it. As she parked her car in front of it, she could not help but notice how different that house looked from the rest of its neighborhood. For one thing, there were no graffiti on it; and the cracks it had were too small to even be seen unless you looked really closely. It surely looked better than Judy ever expected after seeing the pattern the houses there followed.

Checking one last time to see if the silver watch was indeed in her pocket, Judy left her car at last. She walked up to the fence and entered the little garden that surrounded the house. She looked down at it and saw how well treated the grass and flowers were, smiling again. She stopped to smell one of the flowers before finally going to the door.

Looking to the window on her right, Judy saw a shadow moving beneath the curtain that surely belonged to a fox. She raised her fist and knocked on the door, and watched as the shadow disappeared as it moved away from the window. A few seconds later she heard steps coming from inside the house, and shortly after the door was open a crack.

Rick peeped his head through the crack he had opened and looked around, only then looking down and noticing the bunny on his doorstep.

"Oh, hey, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." He said with a smile, fully opening the door when he saw there was no danger in doing so. "Judy, right?"

Rick motioned for her to come in, stepping aside to make room for her. Once she was inside he closed the door and turned around to look at her.

"Hey, Rick." Judy smiled back. "That's right, Judy Hopps."

Judy gave a quick glance around the house she was in. The inside of the house was even smaller than it seemed to be from the outside, but it was cozy and nice nevertheless. It smelled like pine, so Judy could tell Rick was cleaning it when she came.

"So, what's up with this unexpected visit?" Rick said, putting his hands on his waist. His eyes widened and his smile vanished from his face when he looked at her uniform and remembered that she was a cop. "T-There has been any trouble? Because I swear I came right back home after I saw you, I didn't do anything wrong, if you need to confirm I can just-"

"Calm down, Rick." Judy said, holding out her hands. She barely knew Rick but she could tell he was extremely paranoid about seeing a cop. She wondered if he had ever been accused of a crime he didn't commit just because he was a fox. It wouldn't surprise her if he had. "There's nothing wrong. I just came here because I thought you would like to have this back."

She reached for her pocket and took out the silver watch. Rick's confused frown became a surprised one when he realized what it was she was holding in front of him. He searched his pockets frantically and realized that the watch wasn't in any of them before finally taking it from Judy's hand. As if to make sure it really was his watch, he spun it around and read the carving it had on its back.

"My watch! But how...?"

"It fell from your pocket right before you got into your car, back when we first met. I tried to reach you to tell you it had fallen but I wasn't fast enough, so I came here to give it back to you." She smiled and nodded.

Rick still had his eyes locked on the watch and his heart was beating fast upon realizing that he could have lost it forever. However, he soon calmed down and sighed in relief, holding the watch against his chest and looking down at Judy.

"I, I don't even know how to thank you enough, officer Hopps."

"Just 'Judy' is fine." Judy smiled. "And maybe you could thank me by giving me a glass of water?" She asked shyly. "I hate to bother but-"

Rick held out his hand as he put his watch back in his pocket. "Don't be silly, you are not bothering; and that's the least I can do for you after such a kind act. You know, most people would keep the watch for themselves rather than giving it back, and this watch... Well, it means a lot to me. I can't even think of a proper way to thank you for giving it back."

He nodded toward the back of the room, where there was a table, and started to walk toward it as Judy followed him. She sat down on one of the chairs and watched it as he opened the fridge, turning his back on her. As she waited, Judy wondered if it would be weird to ask if Rick knew Nick as her theories came back to her mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you find my address?" He asked as he closed the fridge with an orange jar in his hands.

Judy shook her head back to reality. "Oh, hum, well, when I realized you weren't going to hear me calling I wrote down the plate of your car and then I was able to go to the DMV and find out where you live."

He seemed surprised as he opened a small cabinet that was by the side of the fridge and took out a glass from there. "You really did all of that just to give me my watch back? I must say, that really is very noble of you. Most animals would just keep the watch and forget about it. In fact, they'd probably think I stole it or something. I mean, really; a fox with something that is worth so much? Who'd believe it belonged to me?"

Judy couldn't help but notice how once again he brought up the subject of foxes always being seen as bad and thieves, and that only got her wondering even more. She just nodded as he poured some water into the glass and laid it in front of her. After that, he sat across her and yawned, rubbing his eyes. He still had the same tired appearance from earlier, but had changed into some better clothes.

"Like I said, it was my pleasure. And you don't look like someone who'd steal something to me." Judy smiled, hoping her words would bring him some comfort. He looked at her and smiled, rubbing his eyes once more. As Judy drank her water, she thought of a way to word what she was dying to ask. "You know, not everyone thinks foxes are bad. For example, my partner N-"

Judy was cut short when they heard a whimper nearby. Her ears and Rick's perked up at the sound and they simultaneously turned their heads to look to where it had come from. Rick just sighed, but Judy gasped a little in surprise. On the doorway of the door that led to the bedroom stood a small baby fox with red fur and bright yellow eyes. He looked at Rick with pleading eyes and had one hand over his stomach.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" Rick said to Judy before he stood up and walked to the little fox. He knelt down and caressed him in the head. "Hey, Robin, what's wrong? You weren't supposed to wake up just yet. Does your tummy still hurt?"

The little fox, who Judy noticed to be called Robin, just nodded.

"Do you need to throw up again? Don't be ashamed to tell me if you do." Rick said with a soft, yet serious voice.

Robin looked down at his stomach, as if he was pondering, and then shook his head. Then he looked past Rick's side and saw Judy sitting on one of the chairs. He suddenly let out a small gasp and jumped into Rick, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face on Rick's belly. Rick was confused when he did so, but when he looked over his shoulder and saw Judy he understood what was happening.

"Oh, silly, there's no need to be afraid. This is Judy, she's a nice cop."

The little fox didn't let him go.

"I'm sorry." Rick said to Judy, looking over his shoulder and chuckling. "He's a little afraid of cops. The last time a cop came here, well, let's just say things didn't turn out very well."

"I... Understand." Judy stammered, trying to wrap her brain around what she was seeing.

"I promise things will be ok this time, alright? She's a nice cop. She won't take me away from you. She just came here so that she could give me my watch back after I lost it, isn't that nice?" Rick said, turning to the little fox again and caressing his head to calm him down.

Robin slowly let Rick go, but still looked up at him with doubt and fear in his eyes.

"It's ok; I promise she won't take me away. Do you want to stay here with me or do you want to go back to bed?"

The little fox looked at Judy one more time and then nodded to the bedroom.

"Alright then." Rick stood up and took Robin in his arms. He looked to Judy as Robin buried his face in Rick's neck. "I'll be right back, ok?"

Judy nodded, still confused. She watched as Rick disappeared into the door and heard him as he spoke a few words to Robin. A few moments later, he was back.

"Sorry about that." Rick said as he sat down again. "He's been sick for the past week and keeps waking up every fifteen minutes. I just put him in bed right before you arrived and he's already up. Usually his naps last over two hours or so."

"Is he your son?" Judy asked, even if it was quite obvious.

Rick nodded.

"How old?"

"Four. He'll be five in a few weeks."

"Oh." Judy said, looking to the door where she had first seen the little fox. "He's... really cute."

Rick chuckled. "I know."

An awkward silence fell over the place.

"And the mother?" Judy asked, trying to think of anything to say, but the sad look on Rick's face made her regret her question. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"It's ok." Rick sighed. "His mother... Well, I'm all by myself here. He never even met her. Those last four years have been a tough ride, but I'm doing it, one day at a time. I'm going to tell you, it doesn't matter how hard things are for me, when I see that little smile on the end of the day... It makes it all worth it. He was the reason why I was in such a hurry when I met you. I had to come back before he could wake up."

Judy nodded. "I see. You said he's been sick? What does he have, exactly?"

Rick sighed again and buried his face in his hands. "I don't really know. He was feverish around three days ago, and he's been vomiting a lot. I honestly just hope it's nothing serious and that it goes away on its own, because I honestly don't know what I'll do otherwise. I... I can't really take him to a doctor at the moment."

Judy's heart fell. "I suppose you're unemployed?"

Rick nodded again. "It's hard to find a job when you already work full time as a single parent. I have nobody to take care of him for me. Not only that, but most animals aren't really thrilled about hiring a fox, you know. I survive on doing small things, a help here and there..." He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sorry. You have nothing to do with my problems and I'm just unleashing all of them on you."

"No, no, no! Don't feel bad, I know how important it is to take things out of our chest from time to time. I'm glad you told me all of this. And I think I may know how to help."

Rick looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What if I took your son to a doctor tomorrow? It's on me. Just to make sure it's nothing serious."

Rick's eyes widened. "Oh, no, officer, I mean, Judy, I can't possibly let you do that. He's my responsibility, not yours."

"Come on, I'm an officer, my job is to protect and to help. If he's sick, he must see a doctor. I can tell you're a great dad and care a lot about your son and just wants what is best for him. Please, let me help you and him. It's really nothing."

Rick was about to say something else when he heard a weak cough coming from the bedroom. He looked at the door and then sighed; his ears folding back as he looked back at Judy. "Fine. But only if you let me pay you back... Whenever I can pay you back." He said, the last sentence was said under his breath.

Judy chuckled. "Fine. I'll pass by at this same time tomorrow. I should really get going now, but it was really a pleasure to meet you and see you again."

Rick nodded, his eyes getting watery. He stood up as she did so and followed her to the door, opening it for her. "I really don't know how I can ever thank you enough for giving me my watch back and for, well, everything else."

"It was my pleasure. See you tomorrow, then?"

"I... I guess so. Thank you again, it just... I can't believe I was lucky enough to meet someone as kind as you, officer Hopps."

"Don't worry about it." She said with a smile. "It was really great to see you again, and to meet your son, and everything else. See you later!"

"Goodbye!" He waved as Judy went to her car and then closed his door.

As Judy jumped into her car, she couldn't keep a smile off of her face. She may not have found if Rick was related to Nick or not, but that could wait. Now, she had something more important to do.

* * *

"Carrots!" Nick greeted as he opened the door of his apartment and saw the bunny standing on his doorway. He still looked sick, but certainly a lot better than he did that morning. "I didn't expect you to come here again today."

"I told you I'd come back. You need someone to take care of you now, don't you?" Judy chuckled. "I came to see how you were doing, and I also brought us something to eat." She said, lifting the plastic bag she had with her so that Nick would notice it.

"Oh, that's great! Come on in and sit down. But I told you I was fine, didn't I? I'm good as new now." He sneezed and coughed. "Well, almost. But I did tell you I didn't need to go see a doctor or anything."

"Well, you're only better now because I told you to stay home and skip work today." She proudly said as she entered his apartment. "Otherwise you'd be even worse now."

Nick made a mouth motion with his hand as he went to the kitchen. Judy shook her head and stayed in the living room, where there was the table, and sat down on a chair as she took their food out of the plastic bags and put it on the table. She could hear Nick walking around in the kitchen.

"You know... I was wondering if you could go to the hospital with me tomorrow." Judy said.

"Carrots, really, I'm fine, I don't need a doctor. In fact, I think I'll be able to go back to work tomorrow." Nick said as he went back to the living room and set the cutlery and glasses on the table for the two of them.

"No, it's not for you. You see, I met someone today, another fox."

"Really? That's weird. We aren't very common in Zootopia." Nick said, distracted. "Oh, I forgot to get the plates. You may carry on with your story." He said as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I know. So, I was saying, I met this fox today. He is short on money at the moment and needs medical help. Well, his son does. So I told him I was going to take them to the hospital tomorrow, and I wanted you to come with me." Judy said, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Oh, of course you did. Always helping everyone. Sure, I'll go with you to the hospital to take this fox or whatever. I just hope chief Bogo doesn't give us a hard time for it." Nick answered from the kitchen. "What's his name again? I don't think you mentioned it."

Judy took a deep breath. "Richard Wilde."

There was never a reply, only the sound of Nick gasping and a plate dropping to the floor, breaking into several pieces.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone who's reviewed/followed/favorited this so far, it really makes me happy to know people are enjoying this fic!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	4. The fight

**Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you very much for all the reviews last chapter got, I'm really glad so many people are enjoying this! I hope I don't let you down with this chapter. It's slightly shorter, but equally important.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Nick!" Judy exclaimed, jumping out of the chair she was sitting on and running to the kitchen as soon as she heard the sound of the plate breaking. "What happened, are you alright?"

Judy stopped when she got to the kitchen door. Nick was standing in the middle of the kitchen, his body so still that he barely seemed to be breathing. If it weren't for the fact that his hands were shaking, he could easily be mistaken for a very realistic statue. Although Judy was in front of him, he wasn't looking at her. He didn't seem to be looking at anywhere specific, as if his eyes were frozen. The pieces of the broken plate were still scattered on the floor around his feet.

Judy stood still for a few seconds, astonished with the scene. It seemed to be an eternity before she finally got the courage to walk toward Nick, but the fox remained undisturbed even when she was right in front of him.

"Nick?" Judy said in a whisper, as if Nick was going to run away from her if she spoke to him in a normal volume. "Are you ok?"

Nick blinked and shook his head; his arms that were stretched out fell to the side of his body and his ears folded back. He seemed stunned, as if someone had just told him the worst possible news of his life and he refused to believe them.

"Nick?" Judy called again, beginning to get worried. She was looking up at him, but even if he was looking down, he did not look at her.

"Please tell me my ears were playing tricks on me," He began to say with no readable emotion in his voice, "and that you didn't just tell me you met a fox called R… R-Richard Wilde."

Nick closed his eyes and sputtered when he said the name Richard, as if saying it brought a sour taste to his mouth. He then took a deep breath and looked down at Judy, and she gave a step back when his eyes fell upon her. The look on his face made her feel like if she didn't give him the answer he wanted, he was going to jump on her throat. She shook her head and took a deep breath, knowing he would never do that; but still confused as to why he was reacting that way.

"A-Actually, no, I mean, yes… I mean…" Judy clenched her eyes closed and took a deep breath. "Your ears did not play tricks on you; I did say that today I met a fox whose name was Richard Wilde." She said with a gulp.

Nick's eyes widened and he looked to the side, pondering. He then sighed and pinched the bridge of his muzzle. He stayed like that long enough for it to become an awkward silence. Judy's eyes wandered around as she tried to understand what was going on.

"Let me guess." Nick said at last, Judy's head and ears shooting up when he did so. Nick folded his arms and looked down at Judy. "He's a tall fox, probably taller than me; with a fur more orange than red, an orange tone you didn't even know a fox's fur could have. His eyes are green like mine, only a little darker; and he had a tuft of fur on the top of his head."

When Judy's jaw dropped, Nick knew he had described exactly the fox she had seen.

"Oh, that's just great." Nick muttered in anger. "Of course you'd meet him. Out of all the animals you could have met!"

Judy blinked and frowned in confusion. "Wait, so you actually _know_ him?"

"Well, of course I do." Nick rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest as if that was obvious information. He then looked to the side again, avoiding the bunny's gaze. Both Nick and Judy knew that there was something else he needed to tell, but he wasn't willing to. He preferred to look to the side and pretend none of that was happening.

Judy waited, hoping Nick would eventually spill it out on his own, but he never did.

"Nick." Judy said with a soft voice, giving a step forward. "Who is he?"

Nick's lips slightly retracted into his mouth and his eyes quivered, and Judy could tell he was trying not to cry. After a few seconds, Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes, a small tear escaping them against Nick's will. His eyes opened slowly and a look of defeat sprouted on his face.

"He's Richard Piberius Wilde, or Rick, for short." He answered, still looking to the side; but then slowly turning his head to look at a scared Judy in front of him before he could finish his sentence with a sigh. "And he's my older brother."

* * *

Rick smiled and laid Robin back as he pulled the covers over his son. The little fox had his big yellow eyes open and looked up at his father, following each movement he made as if his life depended on it.

"There," Rick smiled, "You're all comfortable and tucked in."

Robin looked uneasy, as if there was something wrong with him. With one hand he clutched his stuffed fox, a very old toy he had ever since he had been born; and with the other he clutched the covers.

Rick looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, what's wrong?" He said, straightening himself up and looking down at his son.

Robin didn't do anything but blink and sniff, for the first time looking down and taking his eyes off his father.

"Robin? Come on buddy, you're scaring me. Just tell me, what's wrong?" Rick said as he sat on the bed. Although Robin could talk already, he seldom did so. "Does anything hurt? Your stomach? Your head?"

Robin shook his head and Rick frowned. Rick leaned forward and touched Robin's forehead, his eyes widening when he noticed how unusually warm it was.

"Oh, god." Rick sighed, moving his hand to Robin's cheek and softly caressing him. "I think you're getting feverish again. Are you sure nothing hurts? Not even a little?"

Robin shook his head. "Nothing." He whispered.

Rick blinked in surprise when he heard his son's voice, but brushed it off as his fever was more important at the moment.

"Ok, I guess that's a good sigh. Now wait here while I'll go fetch some cold water and-"

Rick attempted to stand up only to have Robin's hand close tightly around his wrist, keeping him in place. Rick sat back down on the bed and looked at Robin with a raised eyebrow as Robin looked at him with a look that almost broke Rick's heart.

"What? Robin, what- oh." Rick said when realization hit him. "It's… It's because of Judy, isn't it? The cop that came here earlier?"

Robin's lip quivered as he shakily nodded, never letting his father's wrist go.

"Oh, my silly little Robin Hood." Rick smiled as he leaned forward and put both his hands on either side of Robin's face, "Judy is a nice cop, I told you; she won't take me away. Nobody will take me away from you ever again, I promise. In fact, Judy said she's going to help us, isn't that nice of her?"

Robin pouted, showing that he doubted his father's words. Rick let out a small laugh and kissed Robin on the forehead before pressing their foreheads together, rubbing his head on Robin's. Robin let out a laugh as well when his father's muzzle tickled his neck.

"I'll take care of you, alright? I'll never let anyone take you away from me, and I'll never let anyone take me away from you. You don't have to worry about Judy, or about any other cop. I promise you'll be alright, and so will I. Everything will be alright." Rick sighed. "Everything."

He pulled away from the hug and smiled when he saw that he had gotten Robin to smile as well. The little fox yawned, and now he seemed calm and comfortable enough to sleep, but he still didn't close his eyes. Rick smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to lay down here with you a little?" Rick asked.

Robin smiled and moved aside to make room for his father. Rick crawled into the bed and lay down beside Robin, scooting closer to his son. Robin rolled to his side and buried his face in his father's chest and Rick wrapped one arm around Robin, bringing him close. It didn't take long for the tired young fox to fall asleep.

"We will be alright." Rick said to nobody in special as he caressed Robin's head. "I know things may seem complicated right now, but we will be ok, Nick."

His eyes widened as he shook his head a little.

"Robin." He muttered to himself. "I meant _Robin_."

Rick sighed and looked down at the little fox curled up against him. He always found it amusing, not to mention a little confusing, how Robin looked more like Nick than like Rick when they were his age; except from his bright yellow eyes that were almost like a photocopy of his mother's.

"I love you, Robin. And I promise I'll always be here for you." He sighed as he wrapped his tail around Robin under the covers. "And this time, I won't break my promise."

It was hard for Rick to sleep with so many thoughts and memories flooding his memory, but eventually he got too tired and it was almost impossible to keep his eyes open. With one last look at his son, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to get some rest; not aware of how many nightmares were going to haunt him that night.

* * *

An unsettling silence surrounded Nick and Judy as they picked up the pieces of the broken plate from the floor, the tension so obvious that it could almost be seen, like if it was a heavy fog floating around.

"Nick..." Judy broke the silence as she picked up another piece.

"I don't want to talk about it." He rushed out. "And I'm not going to the hospital with you tomorrow. If you want to take that... That shallow, power hungry, cheating, son of a-" Nick said, his voice raising and getting angrier with every insult.

"Wow, wow, wow!" Judy said, interrupting Nick before he could get too hostile.

Nick sighed and turned to look at Judy, holding some pieces with his hands.

"If you want to take _my brother_ to the hospital," He said those words through his clenched teeth, "Feel free. I won't tell you what you can or cannot do, even if I'm against it. But don't expect me to go with you. I haven't seen that guy in sixteen years and I do not plan to change it now."

Nick walked past Judy and threw the pieces he was holding into the trashcan, an angry frown on his face. As he now had his back on her, he did not notice her surprised expression.

"Sixteen years?" She gasped.

Nick mentally slapped himself for letting out more information than he meant to. As it was impossible for him to take back his words, he sighed and turned around to look at Judy. He knew her well enough to know that she would not rest until she had all the answers she wanted, but he knew himself well enough to know that there were some answers he was not going to give.

"I haven't seen my brother in sixteen years, ok? And by that I mean I had absolutely zero contact with him. He never called me, or sent me a letter, not even a single message or anything. To be quite honest, I didn't even know if he was alive or not and I hadn't thought of him in a long, long time." He folded his arms. "And I don't want to see him again, like, ever."

Judy frowned. She had a lot of brothers and sisters and she loved all of them deeply. It was beyond her comprehension how someone could have a sibling and not care for them, especially if it was a long lost sibling.

"But what happened between you two? Why don't you want-"

"I have my reasons, Carrots." Nick interrupted. "My brother is a part of my past that I'm not willing to remember. I can't believe you had to find him, out of all the animals in Zootopia, it had to be him." He shook his head and looked up, as if questioning _why me?_

Judy scoffed in disbelief. "Come on Nick, aren't you just a bit curious as to how he's doing?"

"Nope." Nick said with a sly smile as he picked up the last piece from the floor. "I don't even care if he is sick, why would I care for how he's going?"

Judy folded her arms. "It's not him who is sick, smarty pants. I told you, it's his son."

Nick dropped the piece again.

"He... He has a son?" Nick asked in surprise, looking at Judy as he tried to wrap his brain around that new information. He did remember that Judy had said she was going to take the son of the fox she had met to the hospital, but that information had ran away from him when she told him that that fox was Richard Wilde.

"Yeah, he does." Judy smiled coyly. "Cutest little thing I've ever seen." Her smile then became a serious frown. "He's sick, Nick. He needs help and Rick can't give it to him."

"How old is he?" Nick asked, looking to the floor as he picked the piece up again.

"What?"

"His son, Judy, how old is he?!" Nick asked with such impetus that Judy gave a step back.

She shook her head and tried to regain her composure. "Oh, hum, four. He'll be five in little time."

Nick tapped his fingers on the table as he thought about that. It felt weird to realize that he had been an uncle for the past four years and wasn't even aware of that. It was something about himself that he didn't know, and that scared him.

"Humph." He said shaking his head to come back to reality. "To be honest, I would be willing to bet my own money that he kidnapped that kid to extort the real parents; or even that he raped the mother and forced her to bear his child."

"Nick!" Judy looked appalled. "That's not what happened! He didn't do any of that!"

"How can you know?" He said, putting his hands on his waist and looking at her defiantly.

"Because what I saw there was a loving, caring father that truly cares for his son and would do anything for him." Judy closed her fists. "He even tried to refuse the help I offered at first, and only accepted it because he knows his son needs it, and he's willing to swallow his pride for him! For your information, Nick, he's been a single parent ever since his son was born!"

Nick rolled his eyes and scowled. "This is all just an act, Carrots! First he'll accept your help to take the poor boy to the hospital, and then he'll keep asking you for more and more favors; all for his little cutie son, so you won't even realize he's fooling you. I thought you were smarter than that!"

"I am smart! And that's the reason why I know that it wasn't an act." Judy sighed and pleaded. "Nick, I don't know what happened between your brother and you, but whatever it was, you have to believe me when I say that he was a nice guy, especially where his son was concerned. He was super polite and attentive. If he was any different in the past, I think he's changed now."

Nick slapped himself and shook his head as if he had never heard anything so absurd. "No, no, no! You don't understand it, Judy; you don't know a thing about him! That's his game, that's what he does! He comes and makes you believe he's a nice guy and that he'll never do anything to hurt you; he pretends he cares and you believe him because he got you to trust him. And then one beautiful day he enters a car, leaves you behind and goes away forever, taking all of those beautiful promises with him; and abandons his little brother without ever coming back to see if he was alright!"

Nick's explosion was so intense that when he was done talking his eyes were watery and he was breathing heavily through his mouth. Judy looked at him in shock, and the look on his face reminded her of the petrified look he had when he pretended to have gone savage. When Nick realized what he had done he relaxed his tense body and looked down, closing his eyes and letting out a tear.

Judy gulped and approached him. "Nick, I-"

"I cared way too much back then, and it hurt. I now know better than to trust anyone, because that's what hurts about betrayal, it never comes from your enemies." He lifted his head and looked at Judy. "Like I said, feel free to take his son and him to the hospital or whatever. But don't expect me to go with you. And most importantly, don't come complain to me when he deceives you too."

Nick then turned around. "Also, please don't tell him you know me. He's probably forgotten about me by now and I want things to remain that way. And you can eat here if you want. Just please close the door when you leave. I'll call it a night." He muttered as he trudged toward his room.

"But Nick, I brought dinner for you too!" Judy said with a smile, hoping to light up the mood a little, but knowing it wouldn't work.

"I think I lost my appetite. Night, Carrots." Nick then entered his room and slammed the door closed.

Judy sighed and closed her eyes. She knew Nick wasn't lying about what he had said, but she also knew what she saw, and she saw that Rick truly cared for Robin. It was hard to believe he really had abandoned Nick. But that only got Judy wondering even more about what she had just learned. What were the details behind that entire story?

The bunny shook her head and went to the living room so that she could exit the apartment and go home. She certainly needed some rest, and suddenly, Judy also felt like she had lost her appetite. The dinner she had brought them remained on the table, untouched, as she closed the door and went home.

Judy hadn't felt defeated in a long time.

It was way worse than she remembered.

* * *

 **Sorry for those of you who expected to see Nick's and Rick's meeting in this chapter, but that would have been way too rushed. It doesn't help that Nick isn't all too willing to do it XD But I promise it will happen soon!**

 **Also, I changed the rating to T because of the few bad words and implications I used in this chapter, but don't worry, I don't plan on making this story any explicit or violent.**

 **I hope you liked it, see yah next chapter!**


	5. The sleepless night

**Well, this took a little longer than I expected it would. For one thing, writing chapters that are mostly thoughts and flashbacks is tough, because it's hard to make them interesting. For another thing, I kept rewriting Rick's part because I just want to make him likeable for you guys. I know this isn't filled with action or anything, but it is important for the story; and we also get to know more about the characters.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **Edit: Thanks BringingBackSocksWithSandals for correcting me as I had mistaken Nick for Rick. It's not the first time I get them mixed and it won't be the last XD A tip: don't write at 3am when you should be sleeping, you will make mistakes and not see them! XD Well, thank you a lot ^^**

* * *

 _Everything was dark._

 _"Nick?"_

 _Silence._

 _Rick walked through a hallway, feeling the walls around him with his hands to guide himself as he could see nothing in that darkness._

 _"We have to go home... Come on... Mom will be worried about us... If you're hiding I'll be mad at you." He called with a shaky voice, afraid; but doing his best to sound as calm as possible just in case Nick could hear him._

 _The hallway didn't seem to have an end, and the more Rick walked the further he felt from home. He gulped and kept on walking. As soon as he found Nick, he would be able to go away from that place... Whatever that place was. How did he end up there anywhere?_

 _"Nick? Where are you?"_

 _The lights suddenly flashed on, momentarily blinding Rick. He blinked his eyes to get used to the light and realized he had finally gotten to the end of the hallway. Right in front of him there was a door he would have bumped into if he hadn't stopped walking, and he was afraid to open it; but when he looked back, he saw nothing but a dark void – meaning that he had no other option than to go forward. He took a deep breath and looked to the door again; raising his hand to open it, but the door opened on its own before he could even touch it._

 _When the door opened, Rick's eyes fell upon the very cub fox he was looking for. Nick was sitting on a chair in the middle of an empty room with white walls._

 _"Nick? There you are! I can't believe I finally found you! Come on, we have to go..." Rick stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that Nick wasn't just sitting on that chair, he was tied to it. His feet had been tied together and his hands were tied to the back of the chair, making it impossible for him to move. Only then Rick noticed Nick was also wearing a muzzle._

 _"Nick!" Rick yelled as he ran to his brother. "What happened? Who did this to you?"_

 _When Rick reached out to touch Nick's head so that he could take the muzzle off of his brother, Nick's eyes widened for a second before he closed them and shrank in fear, looking to the side as if he was trying to protect himself from Rick. As if he was afraid of his brother._

 _Rick gulped and stepped back. "Nick?"_

 _It was when it all came back to Rick's mind like a flashback. He gasped and stepped back even further from his brother, covering his mouth and shaking his head in disbelief, tears pricking the corner of his eyes._

He _had done that._ He _had tied Nick to that chair and then put a muzzle on him. Rick didn't know why he had done that, but now there was nothing he could do to take it all back. He tried to approach Nick again, only to find that he couldn't. With each step forward he gave, the chair with Nick would back away from him as if it had a mind of its own, and Nick still had that terrified look on his face that broke Rick's heart._

 _"Nick!" Rick cried out, starting to run toward his brother but never reaching him. After several minutes of running, Rick got exhausted. He collapsed on the ground and began to cry as the lights around him slowly began to fade._

 _"I didn't mean to..." He whispered amongst his crying, hiccupping. He lifted his head from the ground and looked ahead where Nick was a few seconds before, but all he saw was a long and empty hallway. Soon enough he would be in complete darkness again, and he had no more energy to stand up and keep walking. He sighed and curled up on the floor, crying more and unsure of what was going to happen next._

 _"I'm so, so sorry, Nick."_

Rick bolted upright in bed after being awakened by his nightmare, the same nightmare he had almost every night but that he would never get used to. With the adrenaline running through his body he looked around in fear for a few seconds before realizing he was safe and sound at home.

"It was just a bad dream... Again." He sighed and rubbed his eyes, glancing down at Robin who still slept by his side and seemed undisturbed by Rick's sudden awakening.

Taking a deep breath, Rick smiled and leaned down to kiss Robin's head; causing the little fox to stir a little in his sleep. Rick made sure Robin was comfortable and warm before he got out of bed and walked to the window in silent steps. He slowly opened the window and looked up at the sky, where the full moon shone above his head.

He leaned over the windowsill and looked at the moon, allowing himself to smile at its beauty for a second; but that smile became a frown as soon as some old thoughts returned to his mind. With a yawn, Rick buried his face in his hands and thought about everything he had lived up to that point.

That was not how he thought his life would be at all. Things were never perfect, but they were doing well. Why did they have to change like that? Sure, most of it was his fault, but it wasn't like fate had been any kind to him either; beginning with who fate had chosen to be his parents. Just having a happy family would have been a good start.

However, he still had to face just how much of a coward he had been.

 _I guess it's like they say,_ he thought to himself with a sigh as he looked ahead, _it's not the situation you're into. It's what you do with that situation._

Rick looked over his shoulder to look at Robin, who still slept peacefully, when other thoughts made their way into his mind.

It made him feel guilty, but almost every night Rick caught himself thinking of how his life would have been if he had followed his first instincts and given up his son when he was born.

It was the most logical and the easiest choice at the time, and chances were that Robin would be living a better life now than the one he currently had. Anyone in Rick's place would have done that. Then why hadn't he he?

Well, he knew why, he just didn't like to think about it.

Deep inside, he hoped that taking care of Robin would somehow heal the guilty he felt for abandoning Nick when he was just ten years old; but it didn't. The guilty, the shame; it was all still there weighing his heart down – and he felt like it'd be there forever.

There was nothing he wouldn't give to have a chance to fix everything. Just to have a chance to go back in time and change the things he'd done, change the things that had happened.

But then again, if he had lived his life any differently, he probably wouldn't have Robin today. And to Rick, that just wasn't an option.

Robin was all the comfort he had in this world; the only thread of innocence and goodness that Rick could hold onto. Even if he knew that taking care of Robin would never fix what Rick had done to Nick sixteen years before, keeping him had been worth it just because of how much Rick had come to love him.

Still, when he first held Robin, Rick really thought that it meant a whole new beginning. That it was a new start on a new life that would begin by letting all of his past go. But that never happened.

Would Rick go back in time to fix everything if that meant a life where his son never existed? Probably not. But then again, it would give him the chance to do it all differently with Nick and he would still have his brother by his side today. Which one was more worth it?

Rick shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. He couldn't just pick between Robin and Nick, and it was a waste of time to think about things that were never going to happen anyway.

Still, he found himself wishing every day for the next four years that just for a moment, he could see his brother again. Or that he could at least know how he was doing, but he didn't even know what happened to Nick after he ran away. Was he even alive? What was he up to? Did he have a family? Did he ever think of Rick? Did h-

"Dad?" A little and hoarse voice called from behind.

Rick turned around when he heard that weak cry coming from behind him, bringing him back to reality. His eyes widened when he saw his son. Robin had woken up and was now sitting on the bed; but it was his position that got Rick worried. He had one hand over his stomach and the other hand covered his mouth as he looked at his father with pleading big eyes, his cheeks slightly puffed.

"Oh, my god." Rick exclaimed as he ran to the bed, kneeling down by Robin's side and patting his back. "Ok, it's ok. Take deep breaths, alright? You'll be ok. Just... Hold it in for just a little longer."

Rick then stood up and rushed to the bathroom, where he kept a bowl underneath the sink for emergencies like that ever since Robin had gotten sick. He hurried back to Robin's side, who was still holding his mouth when Rick got there.

"There you go, pal. It's ok."

Robin then took his hand away from his mouth and bent his head over the bowl that Rick held in front of him. Rick's heart pounded hard against his chest with every painful noise his son made, but he had been through that before and he knew how to handle it. Soon enough, Robin seemed to be done.

Leaving the room once more, Rick came back with a washcloth that he had soaked with cold water. Rick knelt down in front of Robin, who was sitting on the corner of the bed, and looked at him with a comforting smile.

"You're going to be ok." Rick said as he pressed the damp cloth to Robin's face, which was ever redder from retching; his eyes watering from the physical exertion. Rick then dabbed away Robin's tears with his hands before rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him. "Everything's alright now."

They sat in silence for a while, the only sound to be heard was Robin's pained whimpers that he let out whenever the sharp pain in his belly returned. He gagged once more, and Rick was ready to jump up and run to the bathroom again, but then the little fox just coughed and closed his eyes.

"Feeling better?" Rick asked with a smile as Robin took a painful breath and nodded. Rick stood up and sat on the bed by Robin's side, and Robin crawled into his father's lap, who cradled him in his arms and rocked their bodies together in a slow motion. Although relieved that Robin was feeling better momentarily, Rick could not help the concern growing inside him when he realized that that was the fifth time Robin had vomited that week. He really was sick.

The cold wind blew and made its way into the house through the window Rick had left open. He rose from the bed with Robin in his arms and walked up to the window, meaning to close it, but didn't do it when he realized Robin was looking with fierce interest at the night sky. He didn't even seem to mind the cold wind ruffling his fur.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rick asked.

Robin nodded.

"When I was little, I liked to look at the stars and try to see the figures they made. There is a constellation that is supposed to be a wolf, but I always liked to pretend it was a fox. I wonder if I can still find it…"

They stood still with their eyes locked on the sky until Robin sneezed. Rick smiled and shook his head as he closed the window.

"You'll catch a cold if we stay here. Now that you're feeling better, let's go back to bed. It's late."

Robin nodded again, yawning. Rick smiled and walked to the bed, laying his son there and tucking him in. When Robin smiled at him, Rick's heavy heart got a little easier to carry inside his chest.

"Hey, Robin?"

Robin rubbed his eyes and looked up at his father.

"Do you... Well, am I a good father?"

Robin frowned in confusion, and instead of answering he propped himself up on his elbows and leaned forward, kissing his father's cheek; then he lay down again with a smile on his face, his yellow eyes looking up at Rick as if he was saying 'Does that answer your question?'.

Rick blinked in surprise, but then smiled with tenderness as he pulled the covers over Robin again and giggled.

"I love you too." He said as he caressed Robin's cheek with his thumb.

He came to the conclusion that he really was mad all the times he thought that giving Robin up would be the best option.

"Are you feeling better?" Rick asked, just to be sure. When Robin nodded, Rick smiled and crawled into the bed with him; going back to the position they were before Rick woke up because of his nightmare. "Wake me up if you need anything, ok?"

Robin smiled and nodded, closing his eyes and curling himself up next to Rick. In a matter of seconds, he fell asleep again. Rick smiled again and sighed. He wondered if Judy was really going to keep her promise and take them to the hospital on the following day. As much as he felt like he did not deserve any help from anyone, Robin needed it; and he would not let his pride get in the way of the wellbeing of his son.

It took Rick longer than he would have liked to fall asleep as he could not relax with the amount of things running inside his head. He thought about Nick, about everything he had done, about everything that had happened, about Robin being sick... When he looked down at the sleeping fox in his arms, he even allowed himself to think about Robin's mother, someone he really hadn't thought of in a long time. Robin had her to thank for his yellow eyes that were so unique. Rick wondered if she ever thought about them, but he deep inside he knew that she didn't. And he didn't really care for that anyway.

It was Nick who occupied his mind.

As he closed his eyes and shook his head, he prayed that wherever Nick was, he was alright. Tightening the grip on his son, he finally fell asleep.

* * *

It was apparent that nobody was going to get much sleep that night.

It had been hours since Judy had left, but Nick still lay wide awake on his bed. He tossed and turned over and over again as he tried to make himself comfortable, but he just wouldn't sleep. He couldn't even doze off.

With a groan, Nick tossed his pillow away in frustration and sat up on his bed, folding his arms. He stayed like that for a while, until he sighed heavily and fell back down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Although he did not want to think about his brother, he knew that he couldn't just ignore it. It was almost like his mind was yelling at him.

Sixteen years was a long time. In fact, Rick was sixteen when he ran away and never returned, leaving a ten year old Nick behind. Sixteen years was just enough time for Nick to get used to the idea that he was never going to see his brother again; and enough time for him to accept it, and even enough time for him to begin to like that idea considering how much he had begun to hate Rick.

And suddenly, it all changed. Judy knew where Rick lived. Before that, even if Nick wanted to see his brother, it would be impossible because he had absolutely no idea where he was. Nick wouldn't even know where to begin looking for him, he could be anywhere; and that brought Nick comfort. His brother was lost and it was impossible for Nick to find him. That allowed him to carry on with his life, no guilty whatsoever since there was nothing he could do about it anyway.

But now, he could find his brother. He could go visit him if he wanted. All he had to do was ask Judy for his address or even just go to the hospital with her and there they would meet. For the first time in sixteen years, he knew where to find his brother. It was almost like a ghost had come back to life, but still haunted him regardless.

No, Nick didn't want to see his brother. He was still hurt from everything he had done and Nick could hold a grudge sometimes. But it would be his chance to finally face Rick and ask him everything Nick always wanted to know.

It wasn't like Nick thought of his brother all the time or even every day. It was more like Rick had a presence that lingered in the back of his mind every now and then, but Nick had learned to ignore it until it went away whenever the memory of his brother popped up. He tried to ignore it now as well, but it wasn't working; perhaps because of the realization that he could easily find Rick now.

 _Where did you go? What did you do? Just… Why?_ The questions echoed in the corners of Nick's mind. He wondered if Rick would try to explain himself and come up with an excuse or if he would just shrug it off. The latter was more likely to happen as Nick didn't feel like Rick cared enough to bother with an explanation, was it a fake one or the real one. If he did answer, what would he say? What had he been up to in those past sixteen years?

"Well, whatever it was, it can't be anything good." Nick muttered to himself. "Not with that guy."

Nick rolled over and looked to the pillow he had tossed on the floor. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reminiscing about the good times he had had with his brother. Rick was someone he used to look up to; after all he was always so smart and strong, like if he knew everything. More than that, he was someone who was always there for Nick when he needed.

When the other animals muzzled him, Rick was there to make him feel better. When their parents died, it was Rick who took care of him and assured him they were alright. When Nick was scared of the monsters that lived under his bed, Rick was the only one who could make him feel safe again; and he was also the one who eventually made Nick believe it was all in his head and there was nothing there to fear.

 _"And if any monster ever tries to get to you, you can be sure I'll be there to fight them. I won't let them get you."_

Nick never believed that Rick would ever do anything bad or anything to hurt him. And what he did was just the proof Nick needed to know that foxes were indeed untrustworthy; even if that fox was your own brother, and there was no use in trying to be anything else.

That is, until the Night Howlers incident.

Nick had changed his ways because of Judy and because of what they had done together. Before he met her, he would never even think about being a cop – after all, who would trust a fox to be a cop?

And now there he was. A fox cop.

 _Fate can be so weird sometimes._

Judy mentioned Rick had a son, and Nick bit his lower lip. He would be lying if he said he wasn't dying to see what _his nephew_ – it even felt weird for him to say those words – looked like. But there was still a little voice inside his head telling him that Rick could never, ever be a good father. He couldn't even be a good brother for Pete's sake.

Well, he had been a good brother up to the point where he ran away and betrayed Nick; but Nick's bitterness didn't allow him to acknowledge that for the moment.

 _He's been a single parent ever since his son was born!_ Judy's words echoed in his mind.

"I wonder what happened to the mother…" Nick muttered, a part of him still believing that Rick had done something awful to her, whoever she was. But it wouldn't make sense for him to keep the kid if he really had gotten rid of the mother, he would have gotten rid of him as well.

It wasn't hard for Nick to imagine a scenario where Rick wanted to get rid of someone pregnant with his baby just so that he'd be free of all the responsibility that came with fatherhood. He tried to think of a scenario where Rick had a sick twisted reason to keep a kid, but nothing came up on his head; especially after how Judy said how much of a loving father he was.

Nick sighed again, wishing Judy had never found Rick. Seriously, what were the odds? It went against all the chances.

Nick's irrational part still told him otherwise, but maybe Rick wasn't a heartless monster like Nick believed him to be ever since he ran away. Maybe he was a good father now. Maybe he wasn't that bad.

But he just couldn't believe that.

"Why did you go away, then?" Nick asked as he sat up and brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. He did not notice the water filling his eyes. "I waited for you for two years in that awful place, and you never came back. You just… I waited for you!"

Nick panted and looked around his room, shaking his head. It was stupid of him to ask those questions as if Rick was there, as if he could answer them, as if Nick even wanted to know the answers.

"I don't care." He assured himself as he held his knees tighter and took a deep breath so that the tears forming in the corners of his eyes wouldn't come out. "I don't care about you, I don't care about your son, I don't even care where or what you've been up to! I don't care about you the same way you don't care about me!"

Nick gulped and his lips shivered. Why was he still talking like that?

Finally, the tears he had been holding back found their way out and began rolling down his face accompanied by loud and raspy hiccups. If it was sixteen years ago, Rick would be there by his side to ask him what was wrong and give him some comfort.

But now, Nick was all alone.

* * *

 _"'Robin Hood, please stand up', the king said as he approached Robin, who had knelt down in the presence of the royal figure. 'You have served my people well in my absence. I pardon you for any crimes you have been unjustly accused of. You and your merry men are free now!' He declared with a smile."_

 _Rick was sitting under a tree; his legs stretched out and crossed as he held an old book in his lap. By his side sat a six year old Nick, who paid fierce attention to the story his brother was telling him. Nick smiled wildly and leaned over to take a better look at the book when his brother turned to the last page._

 _"The merry men shouted 'Long live King Richard the Lion Heart!' as they all cheered in happiness. The king then held out his hand and asked for silence. 'Moreover Robin, I declare that your land and the title of Earl of Huntingdon are yours again. I wish you a long life to enjoy them.' Said the lion. Robin said nothing, but with tears of joy in his eyes, h-"_

 _"He realized that all his dreams had come true at last!" Nick completed before his brother could, jumping up in joy. It startled Rick a little, but then he smiled and began laughing as he closed the book._

 _"Yeah, that's it. And so they all lived happily ever after. Gee, you already know each word of this book by heart. I should really find something else to read you." Rick said as he put the book aside and invited Nick to sit on his lap._

 _"But I like the Robin Hood book! It's my favorite story!" Nick said as he wrapped his arms around Rick's neck and sat on his lap. "And I like it when you read it for me. Can we read it again tomorrow?"_

 _Rick smiled and adjusted his body so that Nick would be more comfortable. "Well, we can, but that would be the fourth day in a row! You seriously don't get tired of this story?"_

 _"Nope." Nick replied as he looked aside to watch the sunset. The sky was changing from blue to a bright shade of yellow, and soon it would be orange. Nick's favorite part of the day was when the sun was just about to set, because for a few moments the sky's color would match that of his brother's fur. "Hey, Rick?"_

 _"Yes, Nick?"_

 _"Robin Hood is the good guy, right?" Nick asked with a worried expression._

 _Rick raised an eyebrow. "Well, of course he is. More than that, he's the hero!" Rick grabbed Nick and took him off his lap, sitting him on the ground before standing up. "With a mighty thrown of his arrow, he defeated his enemies and brought peace to the Sherwood Forest!" As Rick spoke, he pretended to shoot an imaginary arrow and then stood in a heroic position as if he had hit his imaginary target._

 _Nick laughed when Rick bent over as if he was thanking an audience. Rick laughed as well before sitting down in front of Nick._

 _"I thought it was rather obvious that he is the good guy. Why'd you ask that?"_

 _"Well, it's just that..." Nick started as he lay down on Rick's lap, using his brother's legs as a pillow and looking up at Rick. "You and mom always say stealing is wrong. Sometimes dad says it too... I mean, when mom tells him to say that. But the whole book is about Robin Hood stealing stuff. Doesn't that make him the bad guy?"_

 _Rick looked down at Nick and started stroking his brother's head. "Well, Robin's a... He's a special case. Yes, stealing is wrong, but he had no other choice. You see, it's like... He did the wrong thing, but in a right way. He stole from those who had too much, so that he could help those who had too little; which means he didn't steal out of greed. King Henry was greedy, thus he was the bad guy. After Richard Lion Heart was back, Robin never stole again, because he had no reason to."_

 _Nick nodded. "So he really is the good guy. Right?"_

 _"Right." Rick said as he poked Nick's nose, causing the younger fox to giggle. Nick then took a deep breath and sighed._

 _"I want to be just like Robin Hood someday. I mean, not the thief part. I just want to help people. Rick, do you think I can do it?"_

 _"Of course you can." Rick smiled. "You can do anything if you try, and if you always carry a good heart within you. Like Robin Hood."_

 _"And like you!"_

 _Rick was left without words at his brother's comparison. "What?"_

 _"You know," Nick said as he sat up and turned to look at his brother, "You already are, like, almost a Robin Hood! I mean, you're smart, and you're good, and you're strong! I really want to be like Robin Hood someday," Nick looked down with a shy smile, "But I'll be happy as well if I end up like you."_

 _Rick blinked in surprise as he took in his brother's words, but then he giggled and playfully ruffled Nick's fur. "I'm no Robin Hood, Nick; I'm just me. I'm not strong or anything like that. I'm just tall for my age, I guess. But if you think that ending up like me isn't that bad, then that makes me happy enough with what I am."_

 _Nick smiled and nodded. "Hum, what if we became a team? I can be like Robin Hood and you can be like Little John, even if he was a bear in the book." He shrugged. "Nick and Rick, adventure partners, helping people against the power of the greed! Has a nice ring to it."_

 _"It really does. And who knows? Maybe you will get to be the next Robin Hood someday. I wouldn't be surprised. But no matter what you become, I'll be always there for you, ok? You just have to call, and I'll run to help you."_

 _"Ok!" Nick said as he nodded with a smile and pretended to throw an arrow. "Nick Hood and Little Rick! It actually fits, because you know, Little John wasn't little and neither are you."_

 _Rick shook his head as he smiled as well and stood up. "You're great, Nick. Now come on, we should go home now. Mom will be worried if we don't show up before nighttime."_

 _Nick nodded again and stood up too, grabbing the Robin Hood book that Rick had left on the ground with one hand and holding onto his brother's hand with the other. They went down the hill where they always went after Rick's school was over to spend the afternoon together under that old oak, just the two of them._

 _As they walked down and approached the city, Nick couldn't help but notice that the sky had finally started to become orange, and when he looked up, it almost felt like it could merge with his brother's fur when Rick moved, as if the sky was a painting and Rick was a living part of it._

 _And that always made Nick smile._

* * *

 **Ok, I'm guilty. I do love the parallel the fandom has come up with between Zootopia and Disney's Robin Hood (1973). The book they were reading is supposed to be like the Disney movie. Also, I swear Rick's name was not inspired by Richard Lion Heart's (Man, isn't the parallel game strong here?); that was just a coincidence.**

 **I hope this was enjoyable, even if not much happened. Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!**


	6. On countdown

**Hey there, guys!**

 **This took a little longer than I thought it would, but I'm satisfied with how it turned out. Nick is my favorite character from Zootopia, writing about him is always fun. Thanks for all the nice reviews and favs/follows this has had so far!**

* * *

The light from the sun filled Nick's bedroom and called for him to rise, but the fox felt like he had just fallen asleep when it was time to get up; the dark bags under his eyes being a proof of that. With a groan, Nick rolled over and put a pillow over his head in an attempt to block the sunlight, but just before he could doze off again his alarm went off. Maybe because of his tiredness or because he was stressed, the beeping noise felt like it was almost powerful enough to blow up Nick's eardrums that morning.

With another groan and a roll of his eyes, Nick tossed his pillow away and knocked his alarm off to stop the noise; sitting up on the process. He looked around the room and sighed, not even bothering to pick the alarm clock up from the floor. His eyes felt heavy and kept closing against his will, but he knew he needed to get up to get ready to go to work. Judy would be there soon and-

That was when Nick remembered all that had happened the night before and his eyes widened.

 _Oh, right._

Judy had found his brother and she was going to meet him that day to take his little son to the hospital.

With another sigh, the fox rubbed his eyes and shook his head. It was just too much to take in at once. Nick had spent over half of his night thinking about that and he still hadn't figured out anything. In fact, everything just seemed even more confusing. His brother wasn't even there and he was already making things hard for Nick. Rick surely had a special way to ruin his life, even if just in thought.

 _Rick._

The name echoed in the corners of Nick's mind, trying to make its way to his mouth; but he found himself unable to say it out loud. It was almost like that word had a sour taste, like saying it was going to hurt him. It came to him that he hadn't said it in sixteen years; until he said it the night before.

Nick would have stayed still the whole morning lost in thoughts if his phone hadn't rung in that moment. He shook his head to come back to reality, but hissed when it started to pound because of his loud ringtone. He stood up a little too fast, causing his vision to fade to black for a moment and he had to struggle not to fall over. As soon as he could see again he looked around, trying to find the source of the ringtone.

He spotted his phone on the table of the kitchen and ran to it so that he could pick it up before it stopped ringing. The screen showed a picture of Judy and Nick sighed, not wanting to talk to the bunny as he knew exactly what the subject was. He was about to press the 'Decline' button, but with a roll of his eyes he accepted the call and put his phone to his ear. If he could not avoid it forever he might as well just get that over with.

"Hey." Nick said, rubbing his eyes.

"Nick? It's Judy." Judy said, even if she knew he probably already knew that. It wasn't like many people called Nick on a daily bases like she did. "I… Hum…" She stammered, not knowing how to approach the subject. Nick could hear it when the bunny sighed. "Are you alright? I mean, are you feeling better?"

"I guess." He groaned. "I feel better from that cold."

"You don't sound so well to me." Judy said with a comforting voice. "Are you sure you're feeling better? Wouldn't it be better if you skipped work again today?"

"No, it's just; I feel better from the cold, but I still feel awful from last night." Nick said, sitting down on one of the chairs and looking around, not wanting to word exactly why he felt awful as it involved his brother.

"Oh." Judy forced a chuckle, trying to make the situation a little less awkward, but failing. "You didn't sleep well either, did you? I need to say, everything we went through yesterday did a good job on keeping me awake."

Nick yawned and Judy shook her head with a sad smile. Nick was about to say something, but restrained himself when Judy took a deep breath, knowing she was about to say something serious.

"Nick, I'm going to… Do you need a ride?"

The fox rolled his eyes. He knew it was hard for Judy to talk about what they needed to talk about after the way he reacted the night before, but they were going to stay like that forever if none of them was brave enough to start the so-needed conversation.

"When are you going to take Rick to the hospital?" He rushed out, not even moving as he said those words.

"Oh, hum…" Judy was taken aback as she did not expect that from him. "I, I don't really know. I was thinking about going to his house now, but then I thought you might need a ride, so if you want I can drive you to the ZPD and leave you there and then go pick your brother-"

"Call him Rick, please." Nick interrupted; the angriness obvious in his voice.

"Oh, ok, sorry." Judy said as she was taken aback again. "I can take you to the ZPD and then go pick Rick up to take him to the hospital. I don't know how long I'm going to stay there; I may have to stay there the whole day or maybe just a few hours; it depends on what the doctor says. So you may have to work alone today."

"You don't have to stay there with him." Nick said as he tapped his fingers on the table. "Just leave him there and go to work."

There was silence at the other end for a few seconds, but then Judy sighed.

"Nick, I don't know what happened between you two but I know you're angry at him. Still, he needs help and I promised I'd give it to him. I can't break a promise like that, even if it's someone you don't like that much. Even if you say he was awful in the past, he hasn't done anything yet that makes him untrustworthy." She stopped talking, nervous as she finally began to speak clearly about the subject. "I'll take him and his son there and I'll stay with them, ok? I just need to know what you want to do... And I hope you aren't made at me."

Nick's eyes twitched at the rabbit's words, and he tightened the grip he was giving on his phone; his knuckles turning white from all the strength he was using. Just the thought of letting his best friend with his brother made him uneasy, and the fact that she had described him as anything but bad made Nick gag. He felt an almost uncontrollable urge to turn his phone off, but instead he sighed.

"Wanna know, I think I'll walk to the ZPD today." He said, a fake smile sprouting on his face as he pretended everything was perfectly fine.

"Are you sure? I'm serious; I can give you a ride if you want."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't want to bother you and your plans and a walk may help me organize my thoughts. It's ok, Carrots, really." He said as he stood up from the chair he was on, holding the phone with his shoulder as he went back to his room and got his uniform. "But let me know if you're going to stay there the whole day or what."

"Ok, then." Judy said with a sweet voice. "But hurry up or you'll be late. Is there… Anything else you might want me to keep you updated about?"

"No." Nick answered shortly, not a trace of doubt in his voice.

Judy waited for him to say something else, but his answer was really just that one word.

"Ok. I'll let you know if I leave the hospital any earlier than planned, but I really think I might have to stay there the whole day. Also, call me when Bogo assigns you the case. I really want to know the details! I feel like we're getting into something exciting here!"

"Sure, Carrots, I will. See you later then."

"Bye Nick! See yah." Judy said and then hung up.

Nick stood still, doing nothing but staring at the screen of his phone absent-mindedly as some old memories and images popped up in his mind. Rick's orange fur that was so unique; his voice; the night when Nick was nine and Rick was the only one who could make him feel better...

Nick felt something inside his chest, a weird coiling feeling that brought him back to reality. He then shook his head and decided it was better for him to get going.

As he walked around to grab his keys and whatnot, Nick allowed himself to enter a state of a comforting – yet fake – ignorance. In the back of his mind, he was telling himself that Judy wasn't going to take Rick to the hospital. In fact, he was pretending she had never even found his brother; Rick was still lost somewhere out there and Nick was never going to see him again. Judy was going to skip work today because she was sick, because she was late; for any other reason.

It made him feel weak how just thinking of his brother made him feel so helpless and uneasy.

Nick closed the door of his apartment and walked toward the elevator, still smiling at the lies he was telling himself. He knew that sooner or later he was going to have to come back to reality, but he might as well enjoy what little comfort those lies brought him for a while.

* * *

As Judy made her way to Rick's house, she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and hummed a random song that had been on her mind the entire day. Although she seemed distracted, her mind was seething with ideas and thoughts.

That was such an awkward situation. When she helped Rick in the previous day she could never expect the way things were going to turn out; her surprise of finding a fox with the same last name as Nick's was now just a little surprise compared to the shock of finding that he was actually Nick's brother – and that the two of them had had more than just a few sibling problems in the past.

 _But what problems were those?_ Judy thought to herself.

The way Nick spoke about Rick assured Judy that Nick wasn't exactly fond of his brother, but the Rick that Nick described and the real Rick were two completely different foxes that had nothing to do with each other. One of them was a heartless brother who apparently abandoned Nick – Judy could only guess since Nick refused to clarify what happened exactly between them – and the other one was a loving father and also really kind. Her curiosity was about to drive her insane, but she couldn't just ask Nick about it – he wouldn't tell her anyway – and since he had asked her not to tell Rick that she knew him, she was left clueless.

Judy sighed and lowered her head before parking her car in front of Rick's house. She hummed the rest of the song so that it would get out of her head and took a deep breath, shaking her head. As distressing as the mystery of Nick's relation with Rick was, for the moment she had to leave it aside and focus on helping Rick and his son; as if he had nothing to do with Nick. With a smile, Judy exited her car and ran to the door of Rick's house in little hops.

Judy couldn't help the growing feeling of pride inside her when she raised her fist and knocked on the door. She had become a cop because she loved to help others and surely going after thieves made the town safer; but when she directly helped someone like that, well, that just had something special to it. Especially kids, Judy loved them. All of that just made her smile widely.

However, her smile faded when there was no answer whatsoever.

"Uh, hello?" Judy called as she knocked on the door again, this time stronger. "Rick, are you there? It's me, Judy."

Once again Judy waited, and once again there were no replies after several minutes. Her little nose twitched in confusion as she furrowed her eyebrows, raising her fist a third time to call Rick again; and this time she actually raised her voice enough for it to be considered yelling.

"Rick! Are you there?"

Her ear shot up and turned to the side where Judy thought she had heard a noise coming from. A few seconds later, she heard another noise; and then the sound of steps inside the house. She smiled in relief when the door handle turned to the side before opening, revealing a tired Rick.

"Hey there." Judy greeted, but he didn't seem to have heard her words.

Rick was rubbing his eyes and yawning as he opened the door. It took him a while to open his eyes, as if the clarity was hurting them; and only then he looked down at the bunny on his doorstep. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a laugh in a sigh, shaking his head.

"Judy... You actually came." He suppressed a yawn and scratched his forehead. "I... I didn't expect you to come at all. I thought you were just saying all of that to make me feel better."

Judy blinked in surprise at his tired appearance, but gave him a comforting smile.

"Well, of course I came. I promised you I would, didn't I? And when I make a promise, I keep it. And I don't mean to sound rude, but... Are you alright? It seems like you've gotten sick yourself."

Rick chuckled and held out his hand.

"No, not really. I just didn't sleep very well last night." He said as he stepped aside and motioned for Judy to come in.

"I see." Judy nodded as she walked in. She had to suppress a chuckle when she realized that she, Nick and Rick all had trouble sleeping that night; although she had no idea that their reasons for being awake were pretty much intertwined. "I suppose it had something to do with Robin?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah."

 _Mostly because of him, anyway._ He thought to himself.

"What did he do?" She asked in curiosity.

"He woke me up in the middle of the night and then he ended up vomiting again. He was a little feverish too, but thankfully he wasn't in pain." Rick told her. Maybe the first part was a bit of a lie, but he didn't think there was a reason to tell Judy that he had been awoken by a nightmare about his brother. She wouldn't be interested in his personal life anyway. "It took me a while to fall asleep again after that."

"Aw, the poor little guy." Judy said, laying a hand over her chest and smiling. "Well, if he needs help, then he's going to get it. The earlier we get there, the better it will be. So, where is he?"

"Still sleeping. He's never awake when I actually need him to be." Rick shook his head and shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Hum, why don't you go and start the car while I go wake him up? It'd probably be better if I had some time to make him understand that a cop taking us somewhere does not necessarily mean a bad thing. But I warn you... He's probably going to be a little scared of you at first. Like he was when he first saw you yesterday."

"Oh." Judy said; looking down ad shrugging. She felt a little uncomfortable knowing that someone who she meant no harm to was afraid of her, and wondered why Robin was afraid of cops; but she didn't have to think much when she remembered about Rick's paranoia. "It's ok, I understand. Take your time; I'll be waiting on the car, then."

Rick nodded and Judy went back outside, going to her car as Rick headed back to the bedroom.

* * *

"Robin? Come on, I need you to get up." Rick called as he opened the window, allowing the sunlight to enter the room. The little fox stirred in his sleep and put a pillow over his head, not exactly eager to get out of bed or even to wake up.

Rick rolled his eyes and approached the bed, putting his hands on Robin's shoulder and shaking him softly.

"Come on. Remember how you were sick yesterday? I'm going to take you to the hospital so that everything will get better and you won't puke again. You really want to get better, don't you?" Rick said as he took the pillow away from Robin and put it aside.

Robin then used his own hands to cover his eyes again, apparently not caring for his father's words.

"Robin? Come on, please. Do it for your father. Just this morning I need you to get up early, alright? Judy is here, and I know you're tired from last night but..."

Rick then realized Robin had already fallen asleep again. He rolled his eyes and folded his arms, looking down to look at Robin.

"I should have called you Night Owl or something." He said with a smile, shaking his head and bending over to grab his son and adjusting him in his arms. Robin blinked his eyes open for a split second when he felt that he was moving, but once he saw it was just his father holding him he closed them again; resting his head against Rick's shoulder and immediately going back to sleep.

"Gee, I wish you would fall asleep at night as easily as you fall asleep when you have to wake up." Rick said as he caressed Robin's head with one hand and held him with the other. "I suppose it really is better this way, if you don't see Judy in her uniform... I don't want you to be scared."

Rick took a deep breath and held Robin tightly against his chest, sighing.

"You'll get better. I promise. And nobody will take me away from you." He then used one hand to close the window he had opened and exited the room, going toward the front door with a sleeping Robin in his arms. "And I hope you'll see that Judy is a nice cop."

* * *

 _I don't know who told me that walking was a good way to get your mind off things, but whoever it was; they were just so wrong._

Nick let out an annoyed sigh and stopped walking for a while, pressing his back against the wall of a store behind him. He was just a few minutes from the ZPD, but he felt like he couldn't go to work. Not with so many thoughts crowding his mind.

"How is it that even when you're not here you make my life a living hell?" Nick muttered through his clenched teeth. "Things were finally going well for me and you just had to show up to ruin everything. You always ruin everything."

Nick looked around, afraid that someone might have heard him talking to himself, but the streets were still empty due to it being so early. He sighed in relief, glad that he was alone and could think for a while.

Nick knew he wasn't afraid of his brother. Not anymore, at least. But even if he couldn't exactly pick a word to describe how he felt when he thought of Rick, it was something nearly as bad as fear.

It wasn't fear, but it made him shiver. And sometimes, he cried. Perhaps it was just a very strong bitterness.

Nick rolled his eyes. After sixteen years he really thought that he would be able to control whatever it was he felt when he thought of his brother, but he wasn't. He always felt like he was a kid again; alone and scared, not really understanding what was going on around him.

Rick had been haunting Nick ever since he had gone away. All of the questions left unanswered, all of the hopes and bonds that had been broken; it was just too much to ever forget… Or forgive.

Nick furrowed his eyebrows and looked ahead.

He was tired.

He was tired of ignoring the ever-lasting presence that his brother had on the back of his mind. He was tired of pretending a part of his past had never happened just because he didn't like to remember that Rick had been a part of his life at some point. He was tired of running away from that ghost that followed him everywhere and that never seemed to go away.

At first Nick thought that Judy finding his brother was the worst thing that could happen, but maybe he had been looking at it through a wrong angle. Maybe it was his chance to actually stand up against the one who had ruined his life. A chance that he didn't know he wanted… Until that moment.

His brother had haunted him for too long. It was time to stop running away.

Nick nodded and then took a deep breath as he reached out for his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Hum, hello, chief Bogo? It's Officer Wilde here." He said once he heard the hello at the other end. "I'm calling to say I won't be going to work today." He took a deep breath and gulped, trying to make his voice steady again. "I'm going to help Officer Hopps."

* * *

 **I was hoping I would get to write more, but I realized there wouldn't be any good moment to split chapters if I did. So I stopped here. I hope you guys liked it! And sorry if this counts as a cliffhanger XD**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Unbelievable

**Well, longest chapter of them all, but I really hope all of it is entertaining!**

* * *

 _Rick panted heavily as he ran through the streets, hoping he would get home before the upcoming rain could start. The cloudy sky above dimmed the fields and made it even harder for him to see his path, causing him to trip and fall several times. His fur and clothes were dirty from him falling on the ground and he had a scratch on his arm for using it to protect his head when he fell, but that didn't bother him much._

 _A cold and lonely drop of rain fell on his muzzle and got lost amongst his fur, but he knew that there was much more to come. Just when his house came into sight a lightning stroke behind him and he rushed even more, not stopping until he was in front of his house. Rick finally stopped running when he got to their garden and leaned his hands on his knees, bending forward and trying to catch his breath. He stayed like that until he felt another drop on his fur, which made him run inside and lock the door._

 _Rick sighed in relief and relaxed at last, pressing his back against the door and sliding to the floor. He was slightly wet from the heavy mist that had followed him on his way and his legs were burning from all the running, but he shrugged it off; happy to be home. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his legs before he got up from the ground. It was only then that he realized how the house was uncannily quiet._

 _"Mom?" He called and frowned in confusion, looking around and starting to walk. "I'm home! I'm sorry I'm so late, I missed the bus and I was busy with..."_

 _Rick stopped speaking when he realized he was talking to himself. His mother wasn't home. He stopped walking and looked down, slightly upset. It wasn't like she was always home and he had gotten used to taking care of himself, but that didn't mean he liked it. There was always a voice inside his head telling him that it didn't mean that she didn't care, but his emotional part could get the best of him sometimes._

 _Shaking his head to come back to reality, he stuck his hands deep into his pockets and went to the bathroom. He grabbed a towel and quickly scrubbed it on his body so that he'd get rid of the moisture that had gotten on his fur and clothes from the mist outside. As he hung the towel back where it was he looked to the window and realized the rain had started, the drops hitting the glass as if they were bullets._

 _Then his ears perked up when he heard a weird noise._

 _"Mom? Are you home?" Rick called as he left the bathroom, but there was no reply._

 _"Uh, dad?" He called with a raised eyebrow. It didn't make sense for the noise to be his father since Rick hadn't seen him in over a week and usually when he disappeared like that he wouldn't come back for at least a month, but it was the only option left. It couldn't be Nick; his mother took him with her when she was going to come back late so that he wouldn't be left home alone the whole day._

 _Rick grew suspicious and rushed to the front door, making sure it was still locked and closed as he was afraid someone could have broken in. When he saw that it was he made a confused face, but shrugged things off once more and went to his room, relieved. Maybe that noise had been just the rain outside._

 _However, just when he got to the door of his room, which he shared with his brother, he heard that noise again; more clearly this time. It was the sound of a whimper and pained breaths, and it seemed to come from his room. Rick tilted his head to the side and pushed the door open in curiosity and concern._

 _The light of the room was off, but the light that came from behind Rick was enough to light up Nick's bed, and so Rick saw that his brother was laying there in a fetal position; his head buried in his pillow. However, Nick didn't seem to be sleeping._

 _"Nick?" Rick blinked in confusion as he tilted his head and walked to the wall where the light switch was. "What are you doing here? I mean, mom isn't home so I thought that you'd be with her and- Oh, god."_

 _Rick lost his words once he turned the lights on and was able to fully see what was happening in front of him. Nick was curled up in bed and crying, his eyes red and swollen from all the tears he had shed and that still rolled down his face, wetting his pillow. He didn't even seem to acknowledge Rick's presence as he had no reaction to it. Rick's jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he took in that sight._

 _"Nick? Nick!" Rick exclaimed at last as he ran to Nick's bed and knelt down in front of his brother. He reached out to touch Nick but his hand just fluttered above him as Rick was unsure about whether or not he should touch his brother. "What happened? Why are you crying?"_

 _Nick didn't answer; instead he rolled over so that he was facing the wall and not Rick. Rick was left appalled, his hand falling on the mattress. Never once had his brother ever turned away from him; which could only mean that something serious had happened. He watched as Nick cried more, but before he could say anything else he realized Nick was wearing the Junior Rangers uniform._

 _"Uh, weren't you supposed to be with the other Rangers? I thought the reunion wasn't over until 9. Was it cancelled because of the rain or something?" Rick said, hoping that saying something other than asking Nick why he was crying would calm him down enough to speak, but that failed miserably. Instead, Nick let out an even louder sob and hiccupped._

 _Rick's concern and confusion grew bigger with that. He stood up from the ground and leaned forward, hovering over his crying brother. He frowned in confusion and started panting slightly, for he hated to see Nick in any kind of pain, was it physical or emotional._

 _"Nick?" He called after a few minutes of silence, but this time in a whisper; as if he could hurt Nick by speaking any louder. He reached out and touched Nick at last, caressing his head. Nick gasped slightly at his brother's unexpected touch. "What happened?"_

 _They stood still for a while, Nick's sobs and the rain outside being the only things to be heard, until Nick rolled over and looked up at Rick with water filled eyes. Rick gave him a comforting smile when he did so, his hand still caressing Nick's head._

 _Nick pouted and sat up on his bed. Rick knelt down again in front of Nick so that he was at his eye level. Nick looked away for a few seconds before looking back at Rick; his smile calming Nick down. Nick then sighed and looked away again, closing his eyes as he mumbled a few words, hardly moving his mouth as he did so._

 _"Sorry, what was that?" Rick asked when he couldn't understand what Nick said._

 _Nick suppressed a few more sobs and then sniffed, wiping his tears away with his hand. Although Rick was starting to get seriously worried, he made his best to keep his smile on his face so that Nick would feel better._

 _"T-The rangers." Nick managed to say between his hiccups and tears, apparently calming down a little._

 _Rick's eyes widened at Nick's answer. "What happened with the rangers?"_

 _And just like that Nick's calm was gone as he began crying again, whimpering something through his clenched teeth._

 _"Nick, what's wrong? What happened with the rangers?" Rick asked again, this time his smile vanished from his face in concern._

 _"They were awful!" Nick said in an explosion, stopping his crying momentarily, but as soon as his sentence was over he started crying again; this time even louder than before._

 _Rick's eyes widened and his mouth was slightly agape as he tilted his head to the side. His breath sped up as he blinked in confusion. "Nick… What happened?"_

 _Nick gulped, the tears never stopping. He bit his lower lip and took a deep breath, trying to speak among his crying._

 _"T-They said I could never b-be brave, or loyal, or helpful, or..." He stopped talking and swallowed hard, trying to contain his crying. "T-Trustworthy."_

 _"What?" Rick exclaimed. "What, I don't get it, why would they say that?"_

 _Nick sniffed again, feeling a little calmer now that he had begun speaking, but still nervous. "Because I'm a fox."_

 _Rick's eyes widened, but then he sighed in understanding. He had always known what the other animals thought of foxes, but he hoped Nick wouldn't find out about that... At least not when he was so young, and not from a situation that he was looking forward to._

 _"Nick, I-"_

 _"And then they knocked me down." Nick interrupted._

 _Rick gasped. "They knocked you down?"_

 _"And then t-they muzzled me." Nick said in a whimper, feeling all the tears he had somehow managed to hold in coming out all at once as the memories of that awful moment returned to his mind._

 _"They did what?!" Rick exclaimed once more, almost yelling. His breath escaped him in a hiss; his earlier shocks were just a mere shadow in comparison to the force of the new blow that struck him when Nick said that. "Do you mean, like, they put a muzzle on you?! For real?! Like those muzzles they use on bandits?"_

 _Nick lowered his head, closing his eyes; and nodded, unable to say anything._

 _Rick's breathe shortness got worse and his mouth remained slightly open as he felt anger growing inside him like a tiny flame that shortly became a raging fire and consumed him entirely. He placed his hands on Nick's bed and fisted the sheets, his knuckles turning white and his fists shaking lightly. The thought of someone doing that to Nick made him growl; something he had never done before. He even exposed his teeth as he did so, which startled Nick. He had never seen his brother getting angry, let alone growling._

 _"Rick?"_

 _"Uh?" Rick shook his head, coming back to reality. When he saw Nick's startled face, he felt his anger being replaced by sorrow and regret. He put one of his hands on Nick's face and used his thumb to wipe Nick's tears away. "Oh, Nick, I'm so sorry."_

 _Nick leaned his face against Rick's hand, getting some comfort from doing so._

 _"I can't believe they did that, just…" He sighed. "And I wasn't even there to help you. I should have gone with you. If I only could..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say after that._

 _Nick's lip quivered and he crossed his arms, letting out a few more sobs. The dream he had had had for the hugest time had just fallen apart, never to become true. His heart felt heavy inside his chest and he felt like he was never going to stop crying._

 _"That's just not ok." Rick muttered, more to himself than to Nick. "If I was there I would have shown each one of those animals a piece of my mind! Who do they think they are?!" He said, punching the mattress to relieve some of his angriness. Then he took his other hand away from Nick's face and stood up, sitting down on the bed behind Nick. Nick gave a small smile and crawled into his brother's lap, resting his back against Rick's belly. Rick wrapped his arms around Nick and kissed the top of his head, smiling back as he rested his chin on the top of Nick's head. "I'm so sorry, Nick. You did not deserve that. But I'm here now."_

 _Nick's smile slowly faded. "Do people really think foxes are bad, Rick?"_

 _"Hum…" Rick said, his lips retracting into his mouth as he looked up and thought of a way to word a proper answer. He didn't want to lie to his brother, but telling the truth could be a shock to the younger one. "Some of them do, I guess."_

 _"Why?" Nick asked. He just knew Rick knew why. Rick always knew the answer to everything Nick asked._

 _Rick opened his mouth to give Nick a proper explanation, but then sighed when he realized he didn't have any. "I, uh, I don't really know. I mean, not all animals think like that, and any animal can be bad, but some people just seem to think that foxes are more likely to be... Shifty than other animals are."_

 _Nick gasped when Rick confessed he didn't know why. Then he furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "If that's how they're going to see me anyway, what's the point of trying to be anything else?" He asked in a bitter voice, a lonely tear going down his face._

 _Rick's eyes widened as he released Nick from his embrace and pulled back from his brother. Nick looked up at Rick, who looked at him with an incredulous face._

 _"What?" Nick questioned._

 _"Don't ever say that again." Rick demanded._

 _Nick pouted and looked aside, like he did whenever he was vexed. "But really, what's the point?"_

 _"The point is," Rick started to say, holding Nick's chin and turning his head so that he'd look at Rick again, "If some animals think you're bad, it's up to you to show them that you're not. If you act like they expect you to act, that will just make them think that they were right about you all along, which they were not. You are much more than what some animals think you are."_

 _Nick's expression became softer, but he still seemed thoughtful. "But even if I'm good, they're still going to think I'm not. So why should I-"_

 _"You must be good to prove them wrong." Rick answered before Nick could finish his question. "You must be good because it's the right thing to do, period. Those animals who muzzled you were bad. If you decide to be bad, you're going to be exactly like them."_

 _The last sentence did hit Nick stronger then he thought it would, but he still didn't seem convinced by that, and so Rick sighed, but smiled when an idea hit him._

 _"You know the Robin Hood story, right?"_

 _Confused as to why his brother was asking that all of a sudden, Nick tilted his head to the side; but then nodded in response. "Of course I do. We read it last week."_

 _"Then you remember that King Henry thought that Robin Hood was bad. He considered him the worst bandit to have ever lived in those lands. And he was the king! Everyone thought the king was right about everything. But Robin Hood never let that get to him; because he knew what he was doing was good, even if some people told him otherwise. He kept doing what he knew was right, and in the end he saved everyone! And not just that, but the ones who believed he was bad turned out to be the real bad guys." Rick smiled. "Some people will doubt you along the way. But you have to learn to just ignore them and keep doing what you know is right."_

 _Nick blinked as he took in his brother's words, and instead of saying anything else he crawled back into Rick's lap, but this time he buried his face in his brother chest and closed his eyes. Rick smiled and wrapped his arms around Nick again, rocking their bodies together._

 _"You smell funny." Nick said. "You smell like dirt, and water, and sweat; all at the same time."_

 _Rick smiled and rolled his eyes. "But water doesn't smell like anything."_

 _"It has a smell when it rains." Nick retorted._

 _"That's actually the smell of a bacterium that releases some hormones when it rains and-"_

 _"Does that mean you smell like a bacterium then?" Nick retorted again, laughing at his brother._

 _"Are you calling me a bacterium?" Rick asked playfully and gasped dramatically as he moved away from Nick. "You must pay for that!"_

 _"What do you m-" Nick started to say, but before he could finish Rick began tickling his belly. His eyes widened as he burst into laughter, kicking his legs frantically. Nick fell back on the mattress, Rick hovering over him without ever stopping tickling him. "S-Stop! That tickles!"_

 _"That's my plan!" Rick taunted, laughing as well._

 _"S-Stop, please! I can't breathe!" Nick said among his laughter, tears picking the corners of his eyes._

 _"Fine, fine; I guess you've learned your lesson." Rick smiled as he released Nick, only to have the smaller fox tackle over him. Rick fell backwards on the mattress, Nick laying on top on him. "Hey, what are you-"_

 _Before Rick could finish his sentence, Nick began tickling him in return. Rick started laughing and almost lost his breath, but the younger fox did not have the advantage of size. Before the tickling could get bad enough to make Rick cry he snatched up his brother and smiled smugly. Nick fought to get rid of his brother's hold but Rick was way stronger than he was._

 _"Nice try there! But I hope this made it clear that I am the tickle master here!" Rick said as he laughed and sat up, sitting Nick in front of him._

 _Nick giggled. "Fine, fine; master."_

 _They stayed in silence for a while, smiling at each other, until Rick reached out and caressed Nick's head as he let out a sigh._

 _"Look, Nick, I don't know why some animals think that foxes are b... Not good, but I know that you are not like that. You are good and noble, and I really doubt that you will let one incident change who you really are. No matter how awful it must have been, I trust that you will be the one to change the way foxes are seen." He smiled. "And if anything like that happens again, you can be sure I'll be there to help you, ok?"_

 _Nick looked down, thoughtful; and then looked up at Rick again and smiled, nodding. Rick nodded as well before pulling Nick into a hug._

 _"Promise me you'll be good."_

 _"Only if you promise me you'll be there to help me." Nick said as he hugged Rick back. Although Rick had always been there for him and Nick had no reason to doubt it was ever going to be any different, he felt like he needed to hear it._

 _"I promise." Rick said._

 _"Then I promise to be good."_

 _"That's my bro." Rick nodded._

 _Nick smiled and closed his eyes, tightening the grip he was giving on Rick. What happened that day had been pretty awful, but those animals were wrong. Foxes could be good and trustworthy; his brother was the living proof of that statement. And if his brother could be like that, Nick could too._

 _"Hey, Rick?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"I love you."_

 _Rick chuckled and kissed Nick's head again._

 _"I love you too."_

* * *

"Hey there!" Judy greeted when Rick opened the door of the passenger seat and entered her car with a sleeping Robin on his lap. She noticed the little fox wasn't awake and smiled at him. "Aw, it looks like someone's tired."

"Yeah." Rick smiled at her as he closed the door and suppressed a yawn. "He just wouldn't wake up no matter what. Believe me, I tried."

"That's ok." Judy giggled as she started her car and drove it into the street. "Kids really do need their sleep. Is he feverish or something right now?"

Rick put his hand on Robin's forehead and seemed thoughtful for a while. "No, not really. He's just sleepy."

Judy smiled. "That's good. He must be tired from being sick last night."

Rick smiled back at her and covered Robin's eyes with his hand when a sunbeam came through the window and shone on the little fox's head. "I just wanted to thank you again for everything you've done, Judy. I never expected anyone would ever be this kind to me." He said with a content sigh.

Judy nodded with a smile, but it slowly faded and was replaced by a thoughtful frown.

"Rick… Can I ask you something?"

"You already did." He said with a chuckle. "Just kidding here. Of course you can, how can I ever say no to you?"

Judy chuckled lightly before her thoughtful frown returned to her face. She then looked ahead to the street in front of her and sighed, lowering her head a bit, which caused Rick to raise his eyebrow at her.

"I've been meaning to ask you this for a while now." She said, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. "And it's perfectly fine if you don't want to answer, but I'd just really like to know."

His smile also faded away at her tone. "Uh, what do you want to know?"

"Well, you… You mentioned more than once that Robin is afraid of cops."

Rick's eyes widened a little at that, already guessing what Judy was going to ask from that statement.

"And I also noticed," Judy continued, "That you were… How can I say it? You seemed to be a little paranoid at first when you saw me, as if you were expecting me to do something bad to you because I'm a cop even if you hadn't done anything wrong."

"I suppose that is correct." He looked away from Judy and pretended to be watching the world passing by them outside his window, but he had way too many things on his mind to enjoy sightseeing at the moment.

Judy took a deep breath and stopped at a red light, looking at Rick and trying to give him a comforting smile even if he wasn't looking at her.

"Would you mind telling me why?" She asked with big pleading eyes.

Rick remained in silence, still looking out the window. When the light turned green again and Judy accelerated the car, Robin stirred in his sleep. Rick straightened himself up and rubbed Robin's head to calm him down. As soon as the little fox had gone back to being peaceful Rick looked at Judy and then sighed, resting his head against his seat.

"I think it was... It was almost a year ago now. Robin had just turned four." Judy watched as Rick folded Robin's ears with his hands, as if to make sure he wouldn't hear anything even if he was sleeping. "I was home and I was about to put on the table for dinner, and Robin was sleeping on the couch. Right after I woke him up to eat, someone knocked on the door. When I opened it, a cop was standing on the doorway. A panther, I think."

He stopped speaking and his eyes wandered around aimlessly as he gulped and blinked his eyes, some small tears doing their best to come out. Judy was about to ask him what happened next when he turned to look at her and her words got lost in her throat.

"I asked him if I could help him, but he wasn't exactly willing to dialog, you know. Next thing I know he kicked me down and I was on the floor, handcuffed. I tried to talk to him and tell him I was innocent but he kept saying I was under arrest for stealing something, I don't even remember what it was; and then he hit me with a stick for no reason at all, I wasn't even trying to resist..." Rick stopped talking and laid a hand on his shoulder on a spot that made him shiver, even if the pain was long gone.

Judy blinked and gulped, appalled by what he was telling her. "W-What happened next?"

"Well..." Rick looked down at Robin and sighed. "I kept saying I was innocent, but he didn't listen to me. All the yelling obviously was enough to scare Robin and he hid behind the couch as the cop took me away, without any kind of proof. The last thing I saw before passing out because he hit me on the head was my son hiding behind the couch and crying as he begged me not to go away. When I woke up, I was in jail."

"The cop really took you to jail?" Judy gasped. "Without a single proof or mandate against you? And he didn't even care that there was a kid left alone there?"

"I'm a fox." Rick shrugged with a forced smile and a humorless laugh. "I guess that was proof enough for him. And who cares for a fox cub?"

Judy nodded with her mind full of memories from the day Nick told her about how the rangers muzzled him just because he was a fox. He probably didn't even imagine his brother had been through something similar... Even if going to jail and leaving your kid behind seemed slightly worse.

"For how long were you...? You know."

Rick looked up and pondered. "Two days. Two days that I spent yelling that I was innocent and begging them to let me go or to send someone to go get my son because he was alone. And apparently they only released me because they caught the real thief, who wasn't even a fox. Who knows how long I'd have stayed there if they hadn't found him. So I ran home with a hoarse voice and a blackened eye, and I got there without even knowing if I'd find Robin there. I mean, he was left alone for two days and the door was left unlocked. I didn't even want to think about what could have happened to him."

"That... That must have been awful. But at least he didn't disappear." Judy said with her eyes on the sleeping fox. That was quite obvious, but she didn't know what else she could say.

"Yeah. Anyway, when I got there, he was still behind the couch, on the exact same spot he was when I passed out. He was so scared that he didn't move a single inch, not even to drink water or eat something. He was hungry and tired… As soon as he saw me, he burst into tears and he wasn't able to sleep for days... And to be honest, neither was I. My bruises didn't go away for weeks, and I just got really paranoid about it happening again. Not knowing how Robin was, not knowing if I'd ever see him again, not knowing if he was even alive... It was too painful to even describe. And I think it's safe to assume it was awful for him to. I just can't let that happen again… I guess that might explain my paranoia. I can't leave him alone like that again."

Judy looked at Robin and then smiled. "You really are a great father."

Rick smiled back at her. "Thank you. At least I'm doing things right with Robin." He said as he looked to nowhere at all, as if he was thinking about something.

Judy tilted her head at that but decided it was better not to ask anything; especially after what he had just told her. Instead, she shook her head and smiled again, pretending they hadn't just shared such personal information.

"Oh, would you look at that!" Judy smiled as she nodded to her right. "We're here."

Rick raised his head and looked to where Judy had nodded before smiling at her again.

* * *

When Nick got to the hospital, he was still trying to hold onto what little hope he had that it all had been just a dream and that Judy hadn't really found his brother. However, as soon as he saw her car parked in front of the white building, all of his hopes were crushed and he was forced to come back to reality.

He stood still on the sidewalk, his mouth slightly open as he looked ahead. He could be easily mistaken for a statue, the people who walked past him and had to dodge him wondered what he was doing, but upon seeing his uniform nobody really dared to ask. Either way, his mind was way too messy for him to even remember how to word an answer.

For the first time in sixteen years, he knew where his brother was.

He just needed to walk in there and he would find his brother and his brother's _son_.

All Nick needed to do was walk in, go to the pediatric ward and ask if they had seen Judy. She and Nick were very well known there as they usually went there with the victims of the crimes they solved that needed any medical assistance. He just needed to walk in, find his brother and finally tell him everything he had wanted to tell for the last sixteen years. Maybe even get some answers from him as well.

 _I just need to **walk in**_ , Nick thought.

Well, easier said than done.

When Nick moved at last he gave a step backwards rather than going forward, almost bumping into someone who passed by behind him. Had it been any other day, he would have turned around and apologized; but at that moment, he just couldn't take his eyes off the building. It attracted his gaze like a magnet.

 _This is madness._ Nick thought to himself. _I can't do this. I can't go inside. This was madness from the start, this is just…_

He lost his train of thought as he scratched the back of his neck and sighed, looking down at last. Looking over his shoulder to the path through which he had come, Nick considered turning around and going away. But when he looked back at the building, he thought he had already come too far to give up.

 _But I can't run away either._

With that thought in mind, Nick finally straightened himself up and started walking forward toward the hospital door, walking in a few moments later.

* * *

By the time Rick and Judy had entered the hospital and sat in the waiting room, Robin had already woken up. He still was in his father's lap, silently watching everything that happened around him, his ears perking up with each sound he heard and his eyes analyzing everyone who passed by them. However, he did not seem scared. He was rather intrigued.

Unlike what Rick thought would happen, Robin did not seem disturbed by the fact that Judy was sitting right by their side. But perhaps that was just because he was way too entertained by that new environment around him to care for the bunny cop.

"Calm down there, Robin." Rick said as he held Robin tighter after the little fox almost fell off his arms for being so unquiet. "You don't want to fall, do you?"

Judy chuckled lightly at him. "For someone who could barely keep his eyes open just a few minutes ago he surely is a lot more energetic now."

Rick smirked and rolled his yes. "I'm honestly beginning to think he was pretending and just wanted me to carry him here so that he wouldn't have to walk. Did you do that, Robin?"

The little fox continued to look around as if Rick was talking to someone else and not to him.

Rick nodded. "Yep, he definitely did that."

"A smart one, I see." Judy chuckled again. "I know I've said it before, but he's so cute."

Robin then stopped looking around and turned his head to look at Judy, apparently acknowledging that she was talking about him and getting her to widen her eyes in surprise. It was the first time that he had willingly looked directly at her without turning his head away in fear. She smiled at him, yet his expression remained unchanged, his yellow eyes blinking with a spark of doubt in them.

"It's ok, pal." Rick said, caressing Robin's head. Robin looked up at him and tilted his head. "I told you Judy's a nice cop. In fact, she was the one who brought us here so that you'll get help to get better."

Thoughtful, Robin looked at Judy again; and she still smiled at him. He caused her eyes to widen a second time when he finally smiled back at her.

"Hopps?" Someone called as a door was opened.

The three of them looked to where the voice had come from, their gazes meeting that of a cheetah dressed in white who was standing in the doorway of the door she had just opened and held a clipboard on her hand.

"Oh, uh, it's me." Judy said as she stood up from the chair, Rick following suit with Robin in his arms. "Actually, it's the two of them. It's the little boy here who's sick."

Rick nodded as the cheetah reached out for him.

"I see." She said with a smile as she took his hand and shook it. "I'm Doctor Taylor. Why don't you come in and tell me what's wrong with your boy?"

Rick nodded again as he followed the doctor into the room, but stopped and looked over his shoulder when he noticed Judy wasn't following them. "Aren't you coming with us?"

Judy held out her hand and shook her head. "I don't want to make Robin nervous or anything like that; we still don't know what kind of exams will be needed. I think it's better if she examines him without me there. But I'd be glad if you called me once it's everything ok so that I can see how he's going."

Rick nodded once more and gave her a thankful smile before going into the room and closing the door behind him. Judy smiled and sat down again as she waited. However, her smile vanished when she looked to the other side and saw a familiar fox on the end of the hallway, approaching her.

* * *

"Nick? What are you doing here?" Judy asked with a frown when Nick approached her and slouched down on the chair by her side.

"Wow, nice to see you too, Carrots." He said bitterly, crossing his arms in front of him and looking to the ground.

Judy shook her head and gulped. "Sorry, I just didn't expect to see you here, considering-"

"Considering how much I hate my brother? Yeah, I understand your surprise." He somehow smiled and shrugged. "But I'm just here to tell him what's been locking up my throat ever since I last saw him. I thought I might as well take the chance if you found him. Don't expect a happy family reunion to happen here, alright?"

Judy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Nick, please. His son is here, we're in the middle of a hospital, in the pediatric area. There are children here. Can you please try not to make a huge scene out of it?"

Nick looked at her and scowled, but then looked ahead and sighed. "Fine, I'll just- I'll be quiet."

Judy nodded and then looked ahead as well, swinging her legs back and forth. There was an awkward silence between them for a while until she looked at Nick and frowned.

"What exactly happened between you two?"

He gave her a death glare that made her shrink in her seat.

"Sorry, I guess. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, then." Judy gulped.

Nick tapped his fingers on the armrest and looked around with a bored sigh. "Where is he anyway? I was hoping I would be able to make this quick."

"Oh, hum, there." Judy pointed to the door beside her. "He and his son are there. I thought it'd be better if I left them alone while they make the diagnostic. He might come to call me to see them anytime soon."

Nick nodded. "How is his son again?"

Judy raised her eyebrow. "Hum, he's cute. Deep red fur, big yellow eyes… And he is an actual baby fox, you know, not an adult fennec fox pretending to be a baby." She said as she smirked.

Nick laughed under his breath. "Not my fault you didn't know what a fennec was."

Judy shook her head, glad she had managed to make the situation a little lighter. There was silence again until they heard a door being opened nearby. Judy looked to the side, and so did Nick. However, he jumped out of his seat and gasped as he did so, giving a step back. When they realized it wasn't the door where Rick was, Judy looked back at Nick and blinked in confusion.

"Hum, are you ok?" Judy blinked.

"No." He said under his breath, shaking his head. "I- I can't do this. I thought I could, but I can't." He said more to himself than to Judy, looking down. She got out of her seat and stood in front of Nick.

"Nick? What do you mean?" She asked.

"I thought I could face him." He sighed with his eyes wide in fear. "But when the door opened and I thought it was him, I really felt like running away. I'm so stupid. I can't do this."

Judy shook her head as Nick buried his face in his hands.

"Nick…"

"I really thought I could do this. I thought I could face him. But the mere thought of seeing him again, when I thought I was going to see him, I…" He sighed again. "You saw what happened. I jumped out of my seat like a 'fraidy cat. I'm just… Mad. Mad that I can't do it. Even after sixteen years, I still can't do it."

Judy looked up at him, surprised at how quickly he changed his mind, and sighed as well. "Nick, I don't know what it is you're afraid of, but you shouldn't force yourself into doing anything that scares you." She looked over her shoulder to the door where Rick was and then looked back at Nick. "If you want, I can explain our situation to him and then tell him whatever it was you wanted him to know."

"No. He has to hear it from me." Nick said as he took his hands away from his face and looked down at her. "But it was just a stupid idea of mine. I should have known better. And like you said, perhaps a hospital isn't the best place to solve my problems with him. I'll just go to the ZPD and whatnot." He said as he turned to leave.

As he did so, none of them took notice of the door opening behind them.

"Bye, Carrots." He said with his back on her.

Judy sighed. "Bye, Nick."

"Nick?" A third voice exclaimed with a gasp.

Nick froze in place and Judy turned around in a jump, her jaw dropping when she saw Rick standing on the doorway of the doctor's office. His eyes, however, were locked on Nick. Rick had his mouth open and an unreadable expression on his face.

"Rick!" Judy exclaimed with the most forced smiled she had ever given on her life, not knowing what to do or to say as she stood between the two foxes. "Uh, how is R-"

"Nick as in… Nicholas Wilde?" Rick asked, walking out of the office and past Judy as he approached Nick, but didn't get close enough for them to touch. He tilted his head to the side and tried to speak, but sputtered instead. Rick had to gulp and take a deep breath before he could actually speak. "Is that you?"

In that one moment, Nick felt like the ground was about to give in and a hole was going to appear beneath him. _His brother_ was standing right behind him. His heart was beating so loud that it didn't let him think, and he didn't realize he wasn't breathing until he needed to do so.

Judy could almost see the tension in the air when Nick slowly turned around, his knees buckling slightly when his eyes met those of his brother.

"Oh, my!" Rick gasped again, giving a step back with the shock; his mouth twitching in an unsure smile. "It… It _is_ you!"

Nick opened his mouth and his lips quivered as if he was trying to word something, but nothing came out. He tried to move his legs to run as fast as he could, to run away from that hospital where he shouldn't have gone in the first place, to run away from Rick. But he found they were frozen.

 _If regret could kill…_ Nick thought, cursing under his breath.

"I can't believe it's you!" Rick said at last, his previously unsure smile now grew on his face as he gave a step forward.

Nick still made sure to keep some distance from his brother, his rationality trying to defeat his fear. He then looked Rick from head to toe, and he really didn't look very different than what Nick remembered. His fur had gotten a little darker from his aging, but it was still a bright orange tone. The green eyes, the tuft of fur on his head… Everything that made Rick so unique in appearance was still there.

"Hey…" Nick muttered, that word being the only thing he was capable of saying in the situation. When Rick started to walk toward him and decreased the distance between them, Nick tried to walk backwards, but once again his legs were frozen.

"I can't believe it." Rick said when he stopped walking; they were now closer than before. He eyed Nick from head to toe as well, his eyes shining with unshed tears and his smile never leaving his face. "It has been so long, I just… Look at you now! Man, have you grown! And…"

Rick tilted his head to the side when he looked at Nick's clothes, only then realizing he was wearing a police uniform.

"You're a cop?" Rick asked, breathless, his eyes sparkling in pride. "You're a cop! That's incredible!"

Nick tried to think, but his brain wouldn't work. He just stared at Rick, still too shocked to react to the throbbing sting of disbelief that was overwhelming his heart. He clenched his hands into fists, his nails almost breaking his skin.

And then a tear rolled out Rick's right eye. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself as he approached Nick even more, until they were just close enough to touch. Green happy eyes stared into green scared eyes as Rick raised his hand and attempted to touch Nick's face, but then he hesitated.

His hand fluttered in midair, mere inches away from Nick's face, as if Rick was afraid that Nick was going to disappear as soon as he was touched; as if he was a dream or a mirage. Nick slightly looked to the side, unsure on whether to look at Rick's hand or at his face.

After what felt like years of staring, Rick finally moved his hand forward and put it on Nick's cheek. As soon as they touched Rick gasped again and Nick closed his eyes, the throbbing sting in his chest growing stronger.

"It really is you." Rick said, his voice breaking when he said the last word; his thumb running across Nick's cheek.

Nick desperately hoped that when he opened his eyes again it wouldn't be the face of his brother he was going to see, but anyone else's. He did not want to believe that was really happening; it _couldn't_ be happening. But when he opened his eyes and it was Rick he saw, he almost choked with the lump on his throat that he had to swallow.

Judy still stood behind Rick, her mouth open in shock as she tried to look past Rick to read Nick's expression. He looked… Afraid.

"I- I…" Nick whispered and sputtered, and he knew Rick probably hadn't heard him. The right side of Nick's face felt warm, Rick's touch was sending shivers down his spine and keeping him from actually saying anything. Rather than feeling warm from his brother's touch, he felt like he was a prey being analyzed by a predator.

Rick's eyes still sparkled, smiling so wildly that his face was beginning to hurt but he didn't care. Just the night before he was reminiscing about his brother, wondering where he was, wondering if he was even alive; and now there they were. And his brother was a cop. An example, a hero. He was so relieved he could barely breathe; the heavy burden in his chest disappeared and the pain that had been gripping him by the heart for the last sixteen years was gone in seconds.

Rick then took his hand away from Nick's face, and only then Nick felt like he could speak again. He frowned slightly, trying to compose himself. He looked at his brother for a few more seconds and took a deep breath as he felt his rationality returning to him. Perhaps now he could say everything he wanted to say.

"Rick, I-"

And then Rick closed the distance between the two of them in one step and enveloped Nick in a tight hug, killing any words that Nick might try to say as he felt like once again he could not think properly; the prey feeling returning to him. His eyes widened as his hands fluttered around Rick and he tried to get them to push him away, but his body just refused to obey him.

Still not returning the hug, Nick sniffed and closed his eyes, the tear he had been holding back finally falling out of his eye as he did so. His arms loosened and fell to the side of his body in a sign of defeat as he let Rick hug him.

For the first time in a really long time, Nick didn't know what to do.

"I can't believe it's you." Rick whispered.

"I can't believe it either." Nick muttered, that being the first full sentence he said ever since he saw his brother. Unlike Rick, however, he didn't sound pleased. But the older of them did not seem to care for that.

Judy's heart was beating nearly as loud as Nick's when she gave a step back and shook her head, covering her mouth with her hand. She had already seen Nick afraid before, quite a few times; but the look of fear he had on his face right before he closed his eyes in that hug was definitely the worst of them all.

* * *

 **I thought of splitting this into more than one chapter, but I thought another cliffhanger would be too much. Well, I hope it was worth the wait! And I also hope I did not let you down with this. Sorry for the length of it ^^**

 **See you soon!**


	8. How's he called?

**Hey guys!**

 **So, before we go any further into the story, I just felt like I should clarify their ages because it may get confusing when we get to go deeper into backstories and because someone already sent me a message about it. So Rick is six years older than Nick, he was 16 and Nick was 10 when he ran away. Rick is currently 32 and Nick is 26, which means Rick was 27 when Robin was born. Robin is a month away from turning five now.**

 **That's it; I hope no one else gets confused about it. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 _Push him away. Now!_

Nick's mind seemed to be screaming that at him, over and over again in an unstopping echo as his brain slowly acknowledged the familiar smell that invaded his senses. He hadn't felt that smell in years, but he could never forget it. It brought him weird and confusing feelings that he mistakenly thought he had buried inside him forever and would never feel again; shivers going down his spine and making it hard for him to move and obey what the voice inside his head was telling him to do.

 _The smell of dirt, water and sweat. All at the same time._

Nick was lost in his sensations and thoughts, feeling like his soul had left his body behind in an empty state of mind. He wasn't sleeping but wasn't awake either at the same time. He couldn't hear anything other than the voices inside his head, he refused to open his eyes – afraid that if he did so he would see the images inside his head becoming a reality right in front of him, and he couldn't feel anything but the pair of arms that surrounded him. It was almost like his body went numb everywhere, except for where Rick was touching him.

And his touch burned.

It wasn't until Rick pulled away that Nick came back to reality. When he felt that that warmth around him was gone, Nick began to regain conscious. The noises around him were muffled at first, but soon enough they became clear again; the mess of thoughts rushing inside his mind seemed to slow down and allowed him to think straight once more.

And then Nick was finally able to open his eyes.

There his brother was, right in front of him.

Rick was still smiling, his eyes locked on Nick's, and he had his hands on Nick's shoulders.

"This is just so incredible!" Rick said almost breathless, with his eyes sparkling. He then looked over his shoulder to look at Judy, who stood behind him with her hand over her mouth in concern and shock. However, he didn't seem to notice her expression. "Judy, you won't believe it! This is my brother! I mean, man, I hadn't seen him in... Wait, do you two work together or something?" He said when he looked at her uniform, which matched Nick's. "Because that would be one coin-"

"It's not a coincidence." Nick rushed out before Rick could finish, in the most serious voice he could, and doing his best to look at his brother's face and not give in to the temptation of looking aside.

Rick's eyes widened a little in surprise and his smile got smaller as he looked back at Nick, still with his hands on his shoulders. He tilted his head to the side and gulped. "Excuse me?"

"I chose to come here. I knew you were here. This wasn't a coincidence at all." Nick said through his clenched teeth, furrowing his eyebrows.

Rick's smile vanished at Nick's tone and words. He tried to make them make some sense, but nothing plausible came to his mind; as if he had pieces of a puzzle and couldn't make them fit. The furious gaze Nick had on his eyes almost made Rick shrink.

"What?"

Nick's eyes betrayed no emotion as he gave a step backwards, freeing himself from Rick's hold. Rick kept his arms stretched out for a few seconds before letting them fall to the side of his body in confusion as he shook his head.

"Nick? Are you ok? You're making me worried."

"Oh, so now you're worried." Nick rushed out again with a louder voice; his mouth a thin line as he found new strength inside him upon his brother's falsity. Every word Rick said hit him like a thunder as memories of their past together came to Nick's mind – only for him to remember how all of that meant nothing to Rick.

He had abandoned him.

Rick's eyes widened even more as he tried to approach Nick again, only to have Nick backing away from him. Judy closed her eyes and turned her head to the side in a reflection of how nervous that scene was making her, but then slowly turned her head back to them and opened one of her eyes.

Rick's mouth twitched again. He tried to smile upon seeing his brother after so long – and also for knowing he wasn't dead or anything, but the confusion and Nick's reaction was like a block to his happiness. He reached out for Nick again, but didn't really attempt to touch him. "Nick, I don't-"

"You weren't that worried when you abandoned me sixteen years ago, were you?"

Rick flinched away from Nick as Judy's ears shot up and she raised her head to look at the brothers again, now both of her eyes were open as she looked from Nick to Rick so that she could study their expressions. Even if Rick had his back on her she could tell from his position that he was scared, or at the very least, confused.

"O-Oh." Rick exclaimed, his arms falling to the side of his body again as he looked down and took in his brother's words. He scratched the back of his hand in embarrassment and couldn't get himself to look at Nick for what felt like forever. When he finally raised his head, his eyes fell upon a growling Nick. "N-Nick, I…"

"I waited for so long." Nick interrupted him, clenching his fists. His loud voice was getting some attention from the animals around them, but he did not seem to care or notice. "I waited for you, even after you deliberately broke ten years' worth of promises! And you never came back!"

Rick gave a step backwards as Judy stepped forwards to get by Rick's side.

Judy gulped and held out her hands. "Nick, perhaps you should calm d-"

"Even after everything we went through together and after promising you'd never leave me behind you go and do just that!" Nick stepped forward until he was right in front of Rick, but this time the older of them tried to cover himself with his hands. "But I didn't want to believe you had left me, no. I was stupid enough to believe you were going to come back, for two whole years I believed in that. And then you showed me how stupid it is to _hope_!"

"Nick, I-"

"And now, sixteen years later, you just come out of the blue, and hug me as if there was nothing wrong? As if I had come here because I wanted to see you because I _missed you_?" Nick laughed under his breath in disbelief. "As if! You are unbelievable, really."

Judy looked up at a scared Rick. She looked back at Nick and scowled at him, wondering how he could not be shaken by his brother's expression; but also taking mental notes of everything Nick was saying as she tried to put the pieces of what she knew together. It was when Rick gulped and looked at Nick with pleading eyes, reaching out for him again.

"Nick, please, just listen t-"

"I'm not done yet!" Nick yelled, startling Rick who jumped back with a gasp. "The reason why I came here was because I saw it as a chance to finally tell you everything I've thought of you ever since you left! And that would be telling you that you are nothing but an obnoxious, self-centered, hypocrite, the living reason why nobody likes foxes," he poked Rick in the chest with every insult, "and the hugest _liar_ ever!"

As he said the word liar, Nick stopped the poking and used both his hands to push Rick away from him. Although he didn't exactly mean to knock Rick down, that was exactly what happened. Rick gave some clumsy steps backwards in an attempt to keep his balance, but he fell down nevertheless. His back hit the floor with a loud thud as he slid a few inches across the floor, causing Judy to gasp. She looked at Nick with a disapproving face before she ran to Rick's side and helped him sit up on the floor as he put his hand to the back of his head.

"Nick!" She gasped when she felt the bump on Rick's head with her hand and then she looked back at her partner. "That was really unnecessary and rude! That is unacceptable behavior for a cop! Apologize to him, right now!"

Nick scoffed in a humorless laugh before growling again. "Why should I apologize for what I've become? _He_ never apologized for making me this way!" Nick yelled, pointing at the fallen fox in front of him and looking at Judy.

Rick let out a gasp as his eyes widened and he forgot the pain on the back of his head with the strength of the blow that hit him after hearing Nick say that so angrily. He lifted his head, his mouth agape and his eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Nick…" He said in a whisper, yet it was still loud enough for Nick to hear him.

Nick sharply turned his head to look at Rick, but when he did so, his face drained of color. His angry scowl vanished, an appalled expression quickly replacing it. The heartbroken look his brother had on his face was enough to unsettle Nick all over again; his previous strength and will to speak out his mind were gone in mere seconds.

It came to him that he had never physically hurt anyone before. And as much as he despised his brother, hurting him didn't make Nick feel any better. In fact, he felt like a coward.

Nick stood still, breathing heavily, as Rick stood up with the help of Judy and some nurses who had stopped to help; some of them quickly gossiping about what they had seen and heard. As soon as he was on his feet again, he walked towards Nick with one of his hands on his nape and the other one stretched out.

"Nick, I-"

Rick was cut short when Nick turned around and ran away from him, as fast as he could; ironically looking like a bandit who had just seen a cop. In a matter of seconds, he had gone through the door at the end of the long hallway and disappeared, leaving a confused Judy and a shattered Rick behind.

Judy's eyes flew from the door at the end of the hallway to Rick for a few seconds before she approached Rick again and laid a hand on his back. He stared at the door through which Nick had gone before sighing and looking down, the familiar feeling of something weighing his heart down returning to him stronger than ever as he gave in to the tears that had been pricking his eyes since he saw Nick for the first time there; only they turned from happiness tears to confusion ones.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, wishing that Nick could somehow hear him.

* * *

Rick was sitting on the same seat he sat when they were waiting for the doctor to come call them, head buried in his hands as he hiccupped and sobbed. Judy patted his back and looked at him with a comforting, yet fake smile.

"Does your head still hurt? I mean, the bump is still there. I can go get some help if you want…" Judy started to say, desperate to break that awkward silence but knowing there was nothing she could possibly say to make the situation lighter.

"I was so stupid." Rick muttered, his voice being muffled by his hands. He then leaned back against his seat and looked up, folding his arms in front of his chest and sighing. "I should have known that was how he was going to react. It's how I would have reacted if our roles were switched."

Judy opened her mouth, but quickly closed it and looked down, once again not knowing what to say.

"I'm sure- Maybe he was just caught off his guard, you know? I mean, I would be shocked too if I saw someone I hadn't seen in a long time, maybe he just-"

Rick looked down at Judy and held out his hand. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, Judy; but I know what just happened. He hates me. And he's right to do so, I mean, you heard him. I abandoned him, I… I'm so stupid."

Judy laid her hand on his arm, flashbacks of her first adventure with Nick popping up in her head. She was desperate to get some answers, but knew that wasn't the right moment to ask. "I'm sorry things didn't turn out very well."

He slowly looked at her and nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Do you two work together?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, we do. It's kind of a long story," She shrugged with a smile, "but he's my partner now. The only reason why I was doing parking duty when I met you was because he was sick and couldn't go to work."

Rick nodded with a small smile. "Nick Wilde, my little brother; a cop." He said to no one in particular.

Judy blinked and nodded as well. "You know, you reacted quite well to Nick being a cop. Considering what you told me and considering how you reacted when you first saw me and whatnot, I was afraid… I really thought you were going to get scared, or disappointed at him."

Rick raised his eyebrow and looked at her with a confused face. "I would never fear my own brother. And I have no reason to; he would never do anything to someone just because of their species. He's better than that."

The bunny smiled with sad eyes. "You missed him… Didn't you?"

"More than anything. I mean, I couldn't sleep at night because the thought of him kept me awake. I didn't know if he was fine, if he was alive, if he was-" Rick stopped mid-sentence and sighed, lowering his head. He looked at the door through which Nick had gone again and then looked back at Judy. "When he was a kid, he wanted to do the world a better place. Like a Robin Hood. And now, well, now he's doing just that. I'm so proud of him; I just wish I could tell him that."

Judy's lips retracted into her mouth as she tapped her fingers on the armrest of her seat, pondering about what she should do next. She knew that what happened between Nick and Rick was none of her business, but she didn't want to pretend she knew nothing about it either.

"You know… Nick and I always come to this hospital to bring any victims that may need medical help. When he's tired from work or just wants to think about something, he goes out and sits on the bench that is on the other side of the street, in front of that coffee shop." Judy said in the most casual tone she could. "You may find him there… Maybe. If you want to go and check if he's there, I mean. Not that you have to."

Rick looked at Judy and raised an eyebrow and smiled at her terrible try at being oblivious. She smiled back at him and then shrugged, as if on saying 'I didn't know what else to say.'

"Can… Can you go in and see how Robin's going? I need some fresh air." He said, nodding toward the door at the end of the hallway and shrugging as well. "Yeah, I'm just going out for some fresh air."

"You got it!" Judy nodded and jumped out of her seat, Rick standing up a few seconds later. They walked past each other and went on different directions. However, before Judy could enter the doctor's office, she looked at Rick, who slowly walked toward the exit door.

"Hey, Rick?" She called, and the fox stopped to look over his shoulder. When he did so, she smiled at him. "Good luck."

He smiled back at her and sighed. "Thank you."

They exchanged gazes for a few seconds before they both carried on their ways.

* * *

When Rick finally got to the exit door, he sighed and then looked from side to side. It wasn't long until he spotted Nick on the other side of the street, sitting on a bench just like Judy said he would be.

Rick stood on the doorway of the hospital, looking at his brother who didn't even suspect he was being watched as he was facing down and had his eyes closed.

Rick's eyes began getting watery again just for looking at his brother.

It was always amusing and confusing to Rick how Robin was a photocopy of his mother – the tuft of fur on his head being the only physical trait he got from Rick – and now he noticed that Nick followed the same pattern. His younger brother had an uncanny resemblance to their mother, from fur color to height and just his overall appearance. He couldn't help but laugh at the memories from their childhood when Rick got mad because he looked like neither his parents while Nick did. The only other fox with an orange fur like his in their family had been their mother's grandfather. They never met him, but they had seen him in pictures that their mother had showed them.

Her funeral had been just one week before Rick ran away and left Nick behind.

Rick wiped some tears away and then looked ahead again, coming back to the present when he saw Nick again. He had barely moved and seemed unaware of anything that could be happening around him. Taking a deep breath, Rick started to walk toward him.

After crossing the street, Rick walked toward the bench in silent steps. He stood still when he got near it, looking down at Nick who didn't notice Rick standing right by his side. A few seconds of silence passed before Rick cleaned his throat, finally getting Nick's attention. Nick's head shot up and he looked aside to see who it was, but he frowned and looked down when he saw it was Rick.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked, nodding toward the empty space on the bench beside Nick.

"Yeah, it is." Nick uttered as he folded his arms and joined Rick's fake casual conversation. "I'm saving it for a friend of mine. So please go look for somewhere else to sit."

"I promise I'll stand up and go away when your friend arrives." Rick said with a smile as he sat down on the bench. He looked at Nick, or rather at Nick's nape as Nick looked to the other side and avoided his brother's gaze.

Rick looked around and then sighed. It was hard to say what he wanted to say, but they couldn't play pretend forever.

"Nick, I'm sorry." He said.

"Oh, really? You're sorry? For what?" Nick asked with a scoff as he turned his head to look at Rick with a fake amused face. "For breaking every single promise you ever made me? Or maybe it's for running away without even saying goodbye? Or maybe you're sorry for ruining my life? Come on, tell me which one it is!"

Rick blinked at Nick's reaction, Nick's fake smile fading away as he looked to other side again.

"All of them." Rick said with a sigh. "I'm sorry for all of that. I'm sorry for everything I did that ended up hurting you."

Nick's ears perked up at that, and he partially turned his head toward his brother with a bitter expression.

"However, I can't apologize for what you've become."

Nick fully turned his head to look at Rick and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Back when we were in the hospital you said I never apologized for making you become what you are today. Well, I know I just saw you a few minutes ago and we hadn't seen each other in a long time…"

"Pft, nah, just sixteen years, that's nothing." Nick said bitterly with irony in his voice.

Rick's eyes widened as he took a deep breath and gulped, trying to seem unshaken by that. "I, as I was saying; even if we hadn't seen each other in a while and just saw each other again a few minutes ago, I already know you're doing great. Just look at you in that uniform, I mean, wow." He smiled at Nick, and his sentence caused Nick to blink in surprise as his facial expression became neutral. "So yeah, I do apologize for everything I did. But don't make me apologize for what you've become, because there's nothing to be sorry about that."

Nick took a deep breath and looked ahead, clasping his hands together and fiddling his thumbs in nervousness. Rick looked ahead as well and they stood like that, in silence, for what seemed to be an eternity.

"I'm sorry too." Nick muttered. "For pushing you away and causing you to hurt your head, you know. I really shouldn't have… But don't tell Judy I apologized, ok? Otherwise she'll be all 'I told you' and stuff." Nick said with a small smile.

Rick laughed and shook his head. "Nah, I deserved that. And it didn't hurt that much."

They nodded simultaneity before they both looked ahead again, that awkward silence surrounding them once more.

"Why did you go away?" Nick asked at last, still looking ahead; but not in a bitter tone. He was rather neutral, as if he was asking Rick something as trivial as what time it was.

Rick looked at Nick in surprise and studied his expression. Nick still looked ahead as if Rick wasn't even by his side, as if they weren't talking to each other. The look of defeat and sadness on his brother's face made Rick sigh and his voice broke several times as he spoke.

"I, I was a coward, ok?" He rushed out, looking up with a lost look on his face. "I mean, things were already hard enough when we had our parents there with us, and suddenly I was left alone to take care of a kid, I felt like a kid myself. I could barely take care of myself, I was freaking. I felt like everything was going down, and I was going down, and I didn't want to drag you down with me."

Nick looked at Rick and watched as he wiped his tears away. "In less than a week after we lost our mom I dropped school and got drunk for the first time because I was confused and I didn't know what else to do with my life. For a while I felt like that could be my routine, my thing; you know? I could just wake up, go get drunk and pass out. That way, I wouldn't have to face my life, my choices, not even my fate. But I couldn't. I couldn't do that."

Nick gulped when Rick lowered his head. "I had to try to keep the sanity I had left because of you. You needed someone to watch over you and I needed to take care of you. If it wasn't for you, I probably would have died from cirrhosis years ago or something."

Nick looked down as well, pondering. He remembered one day from his childhood when Rick came back home and he had that awful bitter smell that wasn't part of his smell. It wasn't the smell of dirt, it wasn't the smell of water, it wasn't the smell of sweat. And now Nick knew what smell that was. Of course, Rick was drunk that day, it felt painfully obvious now. Nick could have figured it out years before, but up to that moment he avoided thinking of that fateful day…

"For one week, I tried. I tried everything I could." Rick said, breaking Nick's train of thought. "I took you to school, tried all I could to get some money, picked you up from school and fed you what I managed to get on that day. But it didn't take me long to realize that wasn't going to last forever. Sooner or later, you and I would be kicked out from our house and we'd starve, live on the street and who knows what else. I couldn't let that happen to you." Rick glanced at Nick before closing his eyes. "I was left with no other option."

Nick's lip quivered, the grudge he held suddenly seemed a little too much. He felt guilty for judging without knowing Rick's reasons, but his hurt wasn't going to be healed in just one explanation. Still, he realized something he had never realized before: Rick also felt lost when their mother died. He also felt sad.

"I wasn't a baby, Rick. I was ten. By the age of ten I had been kicked down and muzzled by those animals, remember that? I already knew how cruel the world could be. I was ten when we lost both of our parents; I was just a kid when all of that happened, and even if I was scared I never let that get to me. You could have taken me with you anywhere. I wouldn't have minded living on the street, starving, having to be a beggar; I wouldn't have minded anything if I had you by my side." Nick closed his eyes, forcing some tears out. "You could have taken me with you, but you didn't. And I'll let you know, that hurt. That hurt way more than living on the street could ever hurt anyone."

Rick's eyes widened. "Really?"

Nick looked at him with water-filled eyes, his expression being enough to answer Rick. Rick sighed and closed his eyes.

"I was a coward, I told you. I guess I had the impression that I knew the answers to everything, that I would always know what to do," Rick said as Nick pondered. That was really the impression Rick gave him when he was a kid, as if there was nothing he couldn't handle, no questions he couldn't answer, "And when I realized how easily I could break down, well, it was disappointing to say the least. I felt like I could no longer take care of you, as if I wasn't appropriated to raise you on my own."

Rick gripped the border of the bench, feeling one of his nails bending back as he did so.

"I'll let you know, Nick; the day I decided I had to give you up was the hardest and the saddest day of my life." He sighed, covering his mouth with his hand to suppress his tears, but failing. When he began his next sentence, he was already hiccupping. "For the following years, I didn't know where you were. I didn't know what had become of you. You could be dead and I would never know about it. That haunted me for years…" He took a deep breath to calm himself down before he continued his sentence. "Which was why I was so relieved to see you again. Sorry if I came on too strong."

The silence came back after Nick didn't reply. Cars passed by in front of them and some animals walked past them, but it felt like they were alone in the world and time was just a concept; just the two of them and nobody else left alone for minutes that felt like eternity.

"Judy mentioned you have a son." Nick said at last, in a casual tone with a smile; suddenly remembering about that. He felt like it was a good way to break the silence, and he was also curious about that.

Rick wiped the tears that remained on his eyes and looked at Nick with a smile. "Yeah, I do. Judy's in there with him." He pointed to the hospital in front of them.

"Hum." Nick shrugged. "Out of all people, I never thought you'd end up being a parent."

"Tell me about it." Rick nodded in understanding. "I didn't expect it either. It was never something I planned on doing in the first place. But life has a way of changing things, and five years later here I am with a son. Well, four years and eleven months. His birthday is near." He smiled.

Nick smiled as well. "So I've been an uncle for four years and eleven months now. I never would have guessed."

"Well, my son's someone's nephew, and he doesn't know about it. For all he knows, he's just someone's son." Rick shrugged. "It's funny when you think of it that way."

"It really is." Nick laughed under his breath. "Do you… Would you mind if I met him?"

Rick blinked in surprise. "You want to meet my son?"

Nick looked at Rick and nodded. "If it's ok with you, I mean."

Rick could not help but smile wild. "Of course it's ok! I'm, I am… I'm so happy that you want to meet my boy! Come on, I have to go see what the doctor has to say about him anyway, let's go there."

Rick jumped out of the bench and stood up, offering a hand to help Nick stand up. Nick looked up at his brother and then at his hand before standing up on his own, without taking Rick's hand. Rick cleaned his throat and wiped his hand on his shirt as in to dismiss what had happened.

They crossed the street side by side without saying a word.

"Hum, how's he called? Your son, I mean." Nick asked when they walked in the hospital. "I don't believe anyone has told me his name."

Rick gave Nick a knowing look and a smirk. "Robin."

Nick stopped walking in surprise, folding his arms over his chest as he smiled. "You named your son Robin? Seriously?"

Rick stopped walking as well and shrugged. "It sounded cool. And it did fit him. And… I just really couldn't think of anything else to name him. It seemed appropriated."

Nick shook his head as he stuck his hands down his pockets and they began walking again.

"I should have guessed it. You're unbelievable."

Rick nodded and sighed. "I know, Nick. I know."

* * *

 **Man, I had planned to write much more on this chapter, but when I copied what I had written on Word into Fanfiction and saw it had more than 5,000 words I was like "Where did all that come from?!" and realized I should stop here.**

 **Welp, Robin didn't appear at all here. Damn, I was excited to write about him and Nick. Next chapter may be focused on the little fox, just warning yah there.**

 **Well, thanks for reading and thanks everyone who has reviewed this so far! See you guys soon.**


	9. You're great

**Wow, took me a while. I had to rewrite this chapter over 3 times (Erasing everything and writing from the very start) because I wasn't happy with how it was going. I really do hope this was worth the wait.**

 **My life has been a mess because, guess what: I dropped college! I realized I do not want to be a vet and now I'm trying to find some kind of animation college - that's what I want to do! So yeah, things have been a mess and I feel like shit because I'm letting everyone down and I don't know what is going to happen, but I tried my best with this.**

 **But screw my life, I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Judy stood on the doorway of the office for a few seconds to watch Rick as he walked toward the end of the hallway. Once he had disappeared through the same doors Nick had gone through a few seconds before, she mentally wished him good luck one more time and then finally opened the door, making her way into the office.

Doctor Taylor had her back on the door as she looked down at Robin, therefore she did not notice the rabbit behind her. The little fox was sitting on a bed and looked up at the doctor with no readable expression on his eyes as he slowly rubbed his right arm. His ears twitched when he heard the door opening and he moved his head to look at it, shyly waving at Judy when he saw her approaching them.

The cheetah took notice of Robin's waving and looked over her shoulder to see a happy Judy as she waved back at the fox.

"Oh, you are officer Hopps, right?" The cheetah said as she turned and reached out for Judy, shaking paws with her.

"Yeah, I'm Officer Judy Hopps. But just Judy is fine." Judy said with a smile. She then looked at Robin again. He still held no emotion, but playfully swung his legs back and forth as he looked at Judy.

"Rick said he was going to call you." She then looked back at door, noticing that the fox she expected to see wasn't there. "Hum, where is he?"

Judy blinked in surprise when she noticed that that question got Robin to abruptly stop swinging his legs, his eyes widening before he frowned and broke eye contact with the bunny, looking up at door ahead. His chest's moves sped up, going up and down quickly as his breath shortened.

"Hum, he ran into an old friend and now they're just catching up." Judy said; looking from Robin to Taylor and forcing a smile as she tried to convince herself she wasn't exactly lying to them, she was just omitting some unnecessary information. "He might be here any time soon."

"Oh, well, ok then. Can you stay here with this little boy while I go to the laboratory? I was waiting for someone to watch him so I could go there."

"Sure, I'll stay here with him." Judy said with a smile as she looked up at Robin again, but he still had his eyes locked on the door.

"Great, I'll be back as soon as possible." Taylor said to Judy, and then turned to Robin and laid her paw on his back, smiling at him. "You were a really brave boy, do you know that?"

Robin gasped at her touch, but he took in her words nevertheless. He tried to slow down his breath and nodded, smiling for a quarter of a second at the doctor before looking down, still rubbing his arm and now rubbing his feet together in a nervous way.

"You'll be ok." She smiled at him again, mistakenly thinking it was the hospital and the exams that were making him nervous. The doctor then looked at Judy and nodded before walking to the door.

Judy nodded back and walked up to a chair. However, something caught her eye before she could sit down. Just before Taylor could leave, Judy saw that she was holding a small plastic tub that was filled with a red, thick liquid that waved inside the tub with every step she took. It wasn't until the cheetah was out of the room and out of sight that Judy turned her head to look at Robin, finally sitting down as she did so.

It was only then that she noticed the arm he had been rubbing ever since she walked in was wrapped in a bandage. She looked down and blinked, putting two and two together.

"Uh, Robin?" Judy called. He slowly turned his head to look at her with a spark of confusion in his big yellow eyes. "Did she draw blood from you?"

His tail curled up into a small ball behind him as he looked down at his arm and then looked back at Judy, nodding.

"She drew blood because of a simple stomachache? Why would she do that?" Judy pondered, hand on her chin. When she looked at Robin again he was looking at her with his head tilted to the side. She shook her head and held out her hand, smiling. "Ignore me; I'm just talking to myself here."

He gave her a sad smile and a shrug before looking back at the door, yet Judy's eyes never left the fox. She watched it as he began to lightly scratch the sheets of the bed he was sitting on; and shortly after she heard his low breath becoming unsteady.

"Robin?" She called. He did not look at her, and if he heard her he did not show any signs of doing so.

Judy's nose twitched like it did whenever she got thoughtful. "Hey, Robin?"

Once more, there was no reaction from the infant. He hardly even blinked as he looked straight ahead at the door, as if trying to conjure something only with his might. Judy was about to call him a third time when he jumped out of the bed and went to the door, so fast that it took Judy a few seconds to realize he had done so. She then jumped out of her chair and ran after him, jumping in front of him to block his way.

"Wow, wow, wow!" She exclaimed at him as he suddenly stopped on his tracks, almost bumping into the bunny with a gasp. "Robin, what are you doing? You can't go outside on your own; you could get lost or even hurt yourself! What would your father think if he came here and didn't find you?"

They stared at each other for a while, Judy with a serious expression and Robin with a confused one; until Robin slowly shook his head and gave a few steps back to increase the distance between them.

Judy's eyes widened and her expression softened when she realized that he looked scared. His eyes twitched and he looked up and down; looking at her eyes and then at something beneath her. She blinked in surprise and then followed his gaze, looking down. Her eyes fell upon her uniform and realization came to her as she felt her heart sinking inside her chest.

"Oh, my, I… Robin, look, I'm sorry." She attempted to give a step toward him, but he gave a step back so that the distance remained the same. "I, I shouldn't have spoken to you that way, I have no right to, I just…"

She lowered her head in frustration. Robin had smiled at her a just few hours before and now he was backing away from her in fear. When she thought of how he must have felt to have a cop almost yelling at him after what he'd been through, her heart sank a second time.

"Hey, I understand you're scared of cops and you have a good reason to," Judy said, bending forward so that she was on Robin's eye level. "But you can't go outside, you have to wait here. I promise your dad will be back soon, and I promise he's ok. I told you, he's just outside with a friend. And you do remember that your dad said I'm a nice cop, right? He wouldn't lie to you."

Robin's eyes widened at the last sentence as he pondered. His shoulders drooped as he looked up at Judy with uneasiness and then looked at the door again.

 _I'll be right back, ok? Wait here; I'll just go call Judy. And don't give Doctor Taylor a hard time while I'm gone._ Rick's voice echoed in Robin's head.

Judy was right; his dad wouldn't lie to him. But he also had said he would be back soon, and for Robin, he wasn't coming back soon enough. Robin frowned in frustration and turned around, going back to the bed where he previously was. It was quite high, but he managed to jump on it with some effort. Once he was there, he folded his arms and looked down, the frown never leaving his face.

Judy sighed in relief and went back to her chair as well.

"Your dad is a really nice fellow." Judy smiled. Robin didn't look at her as he still looked down bitterly; but the way his ears twitched when she spoke let her know that he was indeed listening to her. "He just wants what's best for you. And I would never, ever do anything bad to him. He's going to be back soon."

Robin raised an eyebrow as he raised his head and looked aside to look at the bunny, and her smile smoothed the apprehension inside him, yet he still didn't smile back – which Judy took as meaning he was still scared. She immediately regretted her previous outburst as she thought of something else to say, but before she could even open her mouth the door was open. Robin's head shot up at the sound, his little heart speeding up inside his chest.

As soon as Robin saw the orange fox he had been waiting for walking into the room, he did not waste a second before he jumped out of bed again and ran towards him; a huge smile quickly sprouting on his face as he did so. Rick's eyes widened for a second before he knelt down just in time to welcome the little fox in a hug as Robin jumped into him and wrapped his arms around Rick, burying his face in his father's belly.

"Well, that's what I call a warming welcome." Rick giggled as he stroked Robin's head and hugged him back. He then looked up and saw that Judy was approaching them. "You didn't give Judy a hard time, did you?"

"I don't think he's even capable of doing so." Judy giggled, still slightly nervous. "He might just be the nicest kid I've ever met."

Nobody seemed to acknowledge Nick standing behind Rick in silence. He looked down at his older brother, who was still kneeling down and hugging the little fox; so Nick still hadn't seen what he looked like. He had caught a glimpse of red when the kid ran to hug his father, but that was it. When Rick stood up holding Robin in his arms, Nick felt like running away once more; but did his best not to let his instincts get the best of him that time.

"Thank you for watching him." Rick said as he looked down at Judy. Judy smiled and shrugged it off.

"No problem, it was my pleasure. He's a really nice kid." She said, her gaze moving from Rick to Robin. He looked down at her from his father's arms and finally gave her a smile that seemed apologetic. She smiled back at him and nodded, discreetly sighing in relief.

"And, well, Robin," Rick said as he looked at his son, "There's… There's someone here who wants to meet you."

Robin tilted his head to the side in curiosity, and it took Rick a few seconds to actually feel his legs again so that he could turn around. When he did so, both he and Nick held their breaths.

"Robin, this is my bro- uh, this is a friend of mine, Nick." Rick smiled; his hands shaking lightly as he finally released the air that had gotten stuck in his throat. He was looking at Nick, who was looking at Robin.

Nick felt his blood running inside his body faster than ever before, and he did not realize he wasn't breathing until he needed to. He felt like he should say something, but any words he tried to say got lost in his throat and came out as a low hiccup.

There he was, meeting his brother's son, his _nephew_. As he thought about it, it felt like he didn't know what that word was supposed to mean, as if he had never heard it before.

The little fox looked up at him with curiosity and something else that he didn't quite let show, his mouth slightly open; and Nick had a similar expression. That cub had unusual bright yellow eyes, an eye color Nick had never seen before; and his fur was as dark as Nick's – if not a little darker, which really contrasted with Rick's as he held him. And although Nick hadn't exactly pictured how he thought his brother's son would look like, he knew he was totally different than what he expected him to be. Weren't kids supposed to resemble their parents? Because Robin certainly did not look like his father; not even a bit. Well, the tuft of fur sitting on the top of his head was similar, but still.

"Hey, uh, Robin, is it?" Nick managed to say. He did not know why he was so nervous, but he was. He shouldn't be; it was just a kid and he had met kids before, even helped and rescued some in his job as a cop. There was no reason for him to believe that meeting Robin would be any different, but as soon as they exchanged gazes Nick found that he was wrong about that.

On the very back of his mind, it came to him that _his brother_ and _his brother's son_ – it still felt weird for him to say those words, as if that all was just a dream and he was expecting to wake up anytime soon to find that none of that had really happened – were the only living family he had left. Three days before he would never even think of his brother, and now there he was with him and his son. It felt like Nick had lost his ability to take in the reality that happened just around him, as if he was forever lost in a dream-like sensation.

As soon as they looked to each other, Robin shrank in his father's lap, his tail curling up in a ball again. He let out a soft whimper and tightened the grip he was giving on Rick as he closed his eyes. Nick tilted his head to the side and looked at his brother as if wanting an explanation. Rick looked down at Robin and raised an eyebrow, but once he looked back at Nick his eyes widened and he smiled in realization.

"Oh, Robin," He said as he rubbed Robin's back; the little fox opening one of his eyes to look up at his father. "Nick's a nice cop too. He's a… He's a friend of mine."

Nick's confusion remained clear on his face when Robin sighed, nodded and slowly turned his head to look at Nick, this time not as scared as he previously was. Instead, he seemed rather intrigued now.

That animal standing right in front of him reminded him greatly of his father, even if they didn't look that much alike. But it wasn't just his appearance; he looked like his father in a physical way. Their traits looked different, but they were the same traits nevertheless. They had the same ears, the same jaw, the same body, even the same face shape. It was weird. The only other animal like that that Robin had ever seen – aside from his father – was himself.

So there really were more foxes on the world. It wasn't just the two of them.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Nick questioned, raising an eyebrow at Robin and surprised at how fast his expression changed from fear to curiosity and still confused about the 'nice cop' thing. However, Robin did not answer. He just kept staring, smiled a little, and then shrugged.

"He's never seen another fox before." Rick answered, and when he said that Robin nodded, never taking his eyes off of Nick. "Aside from me and him, that is. I mean, foxes aren't very common in Zootopia; and we don't go out that much. He's surprised, I guess."

"I, I understand." Nick nodded, absent-mindedly. There was an awkward silence among the three foxes until Nick stuck his hands down his pockets and shrugged.

"It's nice to meet you, uh, Robin." _Seriously, he named his son Robin? That is both unexpected and surprisingly predictable at the same time. Kind of cool, but, still._ "I'm Nick."

Robin then smiled at Nick.

"Wow, would you look at that," Judy giggled, approaching Rick and looking up at Robin before glancing at Nick's uniform, "He's not scared at all, at least not anymore. He surely got over his fear quickly this time."

Nick looked at her and slightly raised an eyebrow. "Why would he be scared?"

Before either Rick or Judy could answer, Robin let out a whimper and stirred in his father's arms; catching everyone's attention. He looked up at Rick and then pointed at Nick, who tilted his head to the side at the little fox's actions. What he wanted wasn't clear until he looked back at Nick and reached out for him, grasping at the air in his hand. Nick's eyes widened and he gave a step back, as if he was scared of the cub.

"I think he wants you to hold him." Judy said and Rick nodded.

Nick let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, no. No, no, no. I don't think that's a good idea." He said, holding out his hands and shaking his head. "I'm not good with children, and I could let him fall or something."

Judy rolled her eyes at Nick, putting her hands on her waist with a sly smile. "Well Nick, you never let Finnick fall; I don't see how different it could be from holding him."

Rick raised an eyebrow and looked at Judy, confused as to what they were talking about. Nick scowled at the rabbit as she kept a grin on her face. After a few seconds of staring, she shook her head and walked towards Nick, standing between him and Rick.

"Come on, Nick. He wants you to hold him!" She said, trying to hold back the spark of jealousy she felt by guilt-tripping Nick. In all the times they had dealt with children, they had liked Judy better than Nick because of her kinder nature and because she knew how to get to them – after all, she was the oldest of over two hundred siblings and had helped her mother take care of them all. The fact that Robin wasn't afraid of Nick like he was of her when they met slightly hurt her pride; even if she knew it was probably because he was a fox.

"But I..." Nick started to say. As much as he knew it wasn't Robin's fault to be Rick's son, he could not help feeling uncomfortable with the thought of getting close to someone who was related to Rick. He frowned as he looked back at Robin, his eyes widening when he saw the disappointment in the younger one's face. Robin was pouting and had his head down, yet he was looking up at Nick as Rick rubbed his back.

"Fine, maybe, I guess holding him just a little would cause no harm, if he wants me to…" Nick said as he shrugged and gave a step toward Rick.

Both Rick and Robin smiled when Nick opened his arms, while Judy smiled as well and watched the scene expectantly. Robin still had his hand stretched out and reaching out for Nick when Rick gave him the infant. Nick raised an eyebrow, but could not help but smile at his nephew.

Robin's eyes looked up and down, analyzing Nick as much as he could. His eyes twitched as he did so and for a few seconds his smile seemed unsure and his breath was sped up. He looked over his shoulder to look at Rick behind him, and Rick nodded encouragingly. Soon enough, he was looking back at Nick and smiling wild again.

Nick still found some of the cub's actions weird, but as Nick held him against his chest and felt his heart beating against his own; his mind was flooded with memories of his childhood. That child, somehow, reminded him of himself. He was innocent and happy; and if Nick had understood it correctly, he really loved Rick.

Robin and little Nick certainly had a lot in common.

After smiling at Nick for a while, Robin wrapped his arms around Nick's neck and made himself comfortable in his lap.

"He's… He's great." Nick said, raising his head to look at Rick for a while before looking down at Robin again and playfully rubbing his head, ruffling his tuft of fur. "You're a great kid."

Robin let out a giggle as Rick smiled at Nick and Judy sighed in relief, smiling as well as her worries that Nick was going to put up a scene washed away.

* * *

 _Although the sun had already been up and high in the sky for a few hours now, Rick still slept heavily and didn't show any signs to be waking up anytime soon. His pillow was wet from the string of slobber that ran down from his open mouth as he snored loudly, the air hardly finding its way through his nostrils because of his awkward position. He would have stayed like that for the rest of the day had his phone not rang and disturbed his grog slumber._

 _He did not open his eyes; instead he clenched them closed once he was awake and threw a pillow over his head with a groan, trying to muffle the ear piercing sound of his phone ringing as he waited for it to stop, not willing to wake up and pick it up, no matter who it was. Soon enough, it was over. He relaxed with a sigh and smiled; but just a few seconds later his phone rang again, once more ripping through the previously peaceful air and hurting his ears._

 _Rick hissed and covered his ears again, letting out another groan. His head hurt from the lack of his sleep and his back hurt from passing out on the couch in a bad position, but his headache was definitely worse._

 _When his phone stopped ringing and began again for the third time, he was convinced that whoever it was, they were not giving up until they talked to him. Rick raised his head from his pillow and opened his eyes, seeing nothing but dark blurs for several seconds until his sight adjusted to the light. He rubbed his eyes and rolled over to get on his side, looking around. His eyes wandered around the room until they fell upon the watch on the wall and Rick saw that it was almost 3pm._

 _Feeling like all his limbs had gone numb, Rick had to use all of his strength to sit up on the couch, rubbing his eyes again and resting his head on his hands as he tried to control his headache that kept getting worse because of his ringtone that seemed to be pounding its way through his ears. Just when it was about to get something close to unbearable he stood up and trudged toward the table where his phone was, not even bothering to check who it was as he picked it up._

 _"What?" He said as he took his phone to his ear, humor terrible from being awaken earlier than he meant to._

 _"Rick?" A familiar voice called from the other end._

 _Rick blinked in confusion, his annoyance slowly being replaced by confusion and doubt when he recognized whose voice that was. Over the past week he had gotten the impression that he'd never hear it again, but apparently he was wrong._

 _"Uh, Lydia? Is that you?" He asked even though he already knew the answer as he let himself fall onto a chair._

 _"Your voice seems raspy," She stated, ignoring his question, "Are you ok?"_

 _Rick raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off as he rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, yeah; I am. Just... I haven't been able to get much sleep lately..." His voice got lower and slower with each word until he stopped speaking to let out a yawn. "I have been... I have been working late these past few days, you know."_

 _Rick could almost see Lydia rolling her eyes when she sighed. "You know these 'late night shifts' are going to kill you someday, right?"_

 _He scoffed at her. "Oh, because you clearly are much safer than I am. Need I remind you of how we met in the first place?"_

 _"Well, need I remind you that I'm actually good at what I do? I mean, I wasn't the one who once began crying in the middle of a shift because I got scared and panicked." She retorted and he blushed at the embarrassing memories._

 _"Why are you calling anyway?" He shook his head and tried to change the subject, his voice suddenly becoming bitter as he had to control himself not to hang up on her._

 _Lydia scoffed at him with a fake dramatic voice. "Wow, rude much?"_

 _He stood in silence for a while, raising his eyebrow even if he knew she couldn't see him._

 _"You're calling me rude? Unless you don't recall what you said to me one week ago I really hope you're being sarcastic now." Although he meant it to be a humorous saying, he could not help the bitterness in his voice as he said it._

 _Rick didn't realize what he had said until it was out, and he regretted it immediately, but didn't care enough to apologize as he felt like she didn't deserve any apologies. Still, there was an unspoken agreement between them never to just get over that and never talk about what happened; and now he had done just that._

 _Lydia went silence for a while, and if it wasn't for the low sound of her breath on the other end Rick would have thought that she had ended the call without warning._

 _"Look," She said at last with a sign and with a voice that seemed both sad and annoyed, "I wouldn't be calling you if I didn't need to talk to you about something serious, ok?"_

 _"Well, you're talking to me now." He said as he sat down and tapped his fingers on the table. "Spill it out, what is it?"_

 _She went silent again for a few more seconds, which actually got him to replace some of his bitterness for concern._

 _"Lydia?"_

 _"Can you meet me at the park like, hum, now?" She stammered. "I, I really do think this is one of those things that need to be said in person… You know, I did mean it when I said I wouldn't call you if it wasn't something serious. Well, it is kind of serious."_

 _Rick's eyes widened as he straightened himself up. Never once had she stuttered like that, not even when her own life was at risk; and now she sounded sincere with a hint of desperation on her voice. "Now you got me worried, what happened?"_

 _She sighed again and once more he pictured her rolling her eyes. "I just told you, this is something that needs to be told face to face. Man, are you deaf or something?"_

 _Just like that, his concern was replaced by annoyance as he frowned. "Wow, sorry if I'm worried about you… Even if you don't really deserve it…" He rolled his eyes, the last sentence being said in a whisper. "Fine, fine. I'm on my way."_

 _"Thank you." She said and hung up before he could answer her._

 _He took his phone away from his ear and just looked at the default screen lock image he had for a while, wrapping his brain around what had just happened. As much as he tried to think of what she could possibly want with him, nothing came up on his mind. At least not anything bad enough that would make someone like Lydia stutter._

 _With a sigh, he let his head fall back before he stood up from the chair, regretting many of his past actions – some which had to do with her. He stuck his phone down his pocket and shook his head as he grabbed his jacket from the floor and threw it over his shoulder, walking to the door with his sight still slightly blurry. Rick almost missed the door handle because of his aching head, but soon enough he was out of his apartment and into the dark green hallways that smelled so awful that he made it a habit to hold his breath until he was out of the building._

 _As Rick walked down the stairs, his mind was filled with possibilities of what that vixen could possibly want with him, especially after making it so clear that she was not exactly thrilled to see him again just a week before. He seriously considered just leave her hanging and not go to that meeting at all, but he would feel too guilty – not to mention he was curious to death._

 _But whatever it was she wanted with him, it could not be anything good._

* * *

 **Yep, I keep dropping these flashbacks to make you all curious and confused :) But we're starting to get into Rick's past now.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading!**


	10. You're ok

**Sorry this took a while, this last few days have been super busy. I have a bad feeling about how this chapter turned out, but I hope you guys like it.**

* * *

 _The night was extremely cold; a hard wind blew across the streets and caused any animal in its way to shiver and run for their homes looking for shelter. Heavy mist floated all around, darkening the surroundings and making it even harder to see in the faint light of the moon above; even for animals that had been gifted with amazing night vision like foxes._

 _Nick sat on the same bench he had been sitting for almost three hours now as he braced himself with his tail curled up around his waist and his legs folded over each other; all in an almost useless attempt to produce some heat. His fur was slightly moisturized by the mist around him, which seemed to steal what little heat he did manage to produce. It didn't take long for his teeth to start chattering and his body to start shivering._

 _The little fox looked from side to side as he looked for any sign of his brother, refusing to let his hope fade despite the fact that Rick had never been that late before and it appeared that he wasn't going to show up._

 _'No, he wouldn't do that,' Nick thought as he shook his head and forced a small smile, 'He's just really late. He's been late before, yeah, that's it. Never this late, that's true, but... He's coming. He wouldn't just leave me here like that.'_

 _Nick's ears and head perked up whenever he heard a sound, but it was never his brother. Animals passed by him and they seemed to be unshaken by the sight of the little fox who seemed to be either lost or abandoned, but Nick didn't care for that at all. He just kept looking from side to side, always hoping that the next sound of steps he heard would be his brother's, but it was getting later and later and Rick wasn't showing up._

 _A powerful gust of cold air startled Nick when the wind blew across him with a loud whistle, fluttering his fur. He scrunched his eyes closed as he shrank because of the cold, the chattering of his teeth getting louder than before as he began to hiccup, a few low sobs leaving his mouth from the feeling of loneliness that consumed him inside._

 _It had been three hours since he had left school, but Rick still hadn't come by to pick him up. As much as it pained to admit that to himself, Nick sighed when he realized that he couldn't wait anymore. The cold was starting to get too much to bear as all he was wearing was a plain shirt and shorts; and he knew it could be dangerous if he remained alone in the middle of the street that late. The idea of walking home alone in that weather wasn't exactly thrilling, but waiting there seemed even worse._

 _Jumping out of the bench he was sitting on, Nick picked up his backpack from the ground and began walking._

 _'He must be really busy doing something else. Maybe he's dealing with big fox stuff since mom and dad can no longer do that for us.' Nick thought as he walked slowly, almost dragging his feet on the ground. He gulped so that he could force back in the tears that pricked his eyes when he thought of his parents. 'I'm sure. He would never leave me alone like that. Not Rick.'_

 _Nick shook his head and began running, desperate to get home as soon as possible and hoping it would help him clear up his mind a bit. People always told him that walking could help you do that. The backpack on his back flung from side to side with each step he gave. Maybe he would find Rick home and he would explain why he didn't go to get Nick. Nick was sure he had a very good reason._

 _Because Nick knew that his brother would never, ever leave him alone._

 _..._

 _"Rick?" Nick called as he pushed the door of the house open. It was locked when he got there, but luckily there was a spare key hidden under the carpet - something his mother thought could come in handy someday and she turned out to be right. "Rick, are you here?"_

 _Nick walked into the house, dropping his backpack near the doorway and entering the living room. It was dark since none of the lights were on, and that let Nick know that Rick wasn't home. He walked toward the wall as he searched for the light switch, and once he found it he turned the lights on. Nick stood still and looked around, as if to make sure Rick really wasn't there, and sighed when he realized the house was empty._

 _Nick pressed his back against the wall and slowly slid to the ground. He sighed again and then brought his knees to his chest, hugging them and laying his head on top on them as the tears he held back when he was walking home rolled out his eyes._

 _It had been three full days since his mother's funeral; three days that felt longer than his entire life altogether._

 _Everyone told Nick that time would heal his pain eventually, but he hated how nobody said how much time it would take. He hoped it would be quick, but so far it still felt as strong as it was on the day she died. He knew that she was gone forever, but sometimes he found himself absent-mindedly looking around the house for her; hoping that he would find her sitting on the table, or in her room; but it didn't take long for it to dawn upon him that she was gone. And every time it happened, he'd cry._

 _He was about to cry again for thinking of her when he heard a loud thud. He bolted upright in shock as he looked for the source of the sound, his breath speeding up and his heart beating hard against his chest. He was beginning to think his ears were playing tricks on him when he heard the thud again, and this time it was followed by a painful whimper. Nick tilted his head to the side as he stood up and walked to the front door as he realized that the thud had come from outside._

 _"Uh, hello…?" Nick said once he was in front of the front door. He knew better than to just open it without knowing who was on the other side, especially on their neighborhood. "Is there anyone outside?"_

 _"Uh, my head..." A weak voice said from the other side of the door._

 _Nick's eyes widened and he jumped back when he realized it was Rick's voice. He sounded really weak and spoke slowly as if he had been hurt. Nick's heart sped up again as he jumped forward and hastened to unlock the door, millions of possibilities running through his mind in the few seconds it took him to do so. Was Rick beaten up by someone? Did he get hurt somehow? Did he need any h-?_

 _"Rick!" Nick yelled in shock. As soon as Nick unlocked the door and opened it, it gave in and Rick fell sideways into the living room with a heavy thud. Nick had to jump aside in the last second to avoid being crushed by his brother. At first Rick seemed to be unconscious, but as soon as he fell he took his hands to his head and hissed in pain. Nick stood a few steps away from him, confused; but shook his head and approached Rick as the older fox tried to sit up on the floor._

 _"My head..." Rick whined as he sat up and took one of his hands to his head, closing his eyes._

 _"Rick?" Nick said softly as he approached Rick. "Are... Are you alright?"_

 _Rick didn't seem to acknowledge Nick as all he did was stand up - with quite some effort - and just walk forward. He was able to give a few uncertain steps before he stumbled into the kitchen table; the upper part of his body bending over it. He didn't even seem to have seen the table, for he just walked right into it as if there was nothing in his way. Nick gasped in confusion and shock._

 _"Careful!" Nick said as he ran to Rick and positioned himself beside his brother, placing one hand on Rick's back and the other on his belly as he tried to give him some support. "Are you ok? Rick?"_

 _As Nick held Rick and helped him straighten himself up as much as he could - which wasn't much because Rick was so much taller and heavier than Nick - his nostrils were invaded by an awful smell. It wasn't really stinky, more like a bitter and acid smell; but it was bad either way. It burned Nick's nose and throat with each breath he took and made him want to throw up badly, as if the smell could enter his stomach and twist it. It was so strong that soon his eyes were tearing up because of it._

 _"What's that smell? It... It's coming from you." Nick said, closing his eyes and rubbing them with one hand as he kept the other on Rick's back. However, just before he could open his eyes again Rick pushed Nick away from him with all of his strength._

 _Nick's eyes widened in shock as he failed to regain his balance and tripped over his feet, falling backwards. Everything went black for a few seconds when the back of his head hit the hard floor, and when Nick felt conscious again he could not help but cringe at the pain irradiating from that area; a few tears escaping his eyes. He pushed himself up with his hands, looking at Rick completely dumfounded._

 _"R-Rick…?" Nick cried lowly._

 _Rick rested himself against the table, his knuckles turning white from the strength he was using to grip the borders and his legs seemed to be shivering; as if Rick had to make a huge effort not to let his knees buckle. His eyes were clenched closed and his breath was raspy and loud as he breathed heavily through his mouth. The awful smell that came from him now seemed to fill the whole room. Nick stared at him, not recognizing the fox in front of him as being his brother. Never once had Rick refused his touch, let alone pushed him away._

 _"Rick!" Nick cried out as he stood up and walked towards Rick, but didn't approach him enough for them to touch. "Rick, what's wrong with you? Are you ok?"_

 _Time seemed to freeze as Nick stared at his brother, waiting for an answer, waiting for a reaction; anything. But Rick did nothing but stay in that awkward position, his entire body shaking and his eyes clenched closed as the sound of his raspy breath and that awful smell he had filled the room._

 _It felt like he was trying to escape heavy chains that were dragging him down, his breath sped up as if it didn't matter how much air he was getting, it wasn't enough; or as if he was drowning in air. Suddenly, his breath got so raspy it felt like he was about to die from affixation._

 _"Rick!" Nick cried out once more, this time with tears rolling down his eyes as he gave a small step towards his brother. He didn't know what to do or even what he could do; and as he walked he found that his lips were quivering. "What's wrong?"_

 _Punching the table and startling Nick, Rick shook his head and groaned as if he was extremely frustrated. Nick stood still, appalled. He knew that that was his brother, but at the same time, that wasn't Rick. It just wasn't him. It was his body, his voice, but it wasn't him._

 _"Rick…?" Nick said among his tears with a weird feeling getting control of him. It took him longer than it should have to realize that he was afraid of his brother. He had never, ever felt any bad feelings towards Rick; and now he had felt both deception and fear on the same day._

 _No, he wasn't scared of Rick, because that wasn't Rick. There was something wrong with him, there had to be._

 _"I can't do this anymore!" Rick yelled as he bent over the table, interrupting Nick's train of thought. "I can't, I don't want to, just, fuck! Why?!"_

 _Nick covered his mouth in shock. Not only Rick had said a curse word for the first time ever, but what he was saying didn't make any sense. Nick approached Rick and gulped before he reached out to touch his back in an attempt to calm him down._

 _"Rick, it's-"_

 _"Don't!" He yelled again, not exactly pushing Nick away that time, but backing away from him as much as he could. Every time Rick yelled Nick's heart would skip a beat in confusion and fear, his brain trying its hardest but still failing to understand what was going on._

 _Rick didn't look at Nick's general direction not even once as he started walking to his room and left a confused tear-filled-eyed Nick behind. However, he barely got to give three steps before his knees gave in and he fell backwards. He would have hit the floor had Nick not run to catch him. The little fox almost collapsed under his brother's weight, and the awful smell didn't make it any easier to hold on, but he did not let go until Rick was standing up on his feet again._

 _"Rick, what's wrong with you?!" Nick yelled in despair, stomping his foot once Rick was standing up with his back on him. Nick's cheeks were wet and his eyes were glowing from the tears he had been shedding nonstop ever since the first one came out. The fact that he was crying because of his brother only made him want to cry even more. "You didn't show up to pick me up from school today, and you smell weird, and you're acting weird, and you're not making any sense right n-"_

 _What happened next was so fast and so beyond Nick's comprehension that it felt like his brain refused to process what was happening around him. Next thing he knew he was laying sideways on the floor with a sharp pain on his cheek and neck._

 _An unsettling stillness fell over the room with Nick panting on the floor and Rick standing behind him breathing heavily. The little fox had wide eyes and shook his head in disbelief as he looked behind with a shaking head to look at Rick. Rick looked sideways, avoiding Nick's direction, but he still had that cold, petrified look as if he wasn't really there._

 _Nick gulped and began sobbing as he refused to acknowledge the facts._

 _His brother had punched him._

 _'No, no, it didn't…' Rick would never hurt him. Not Rick Wilde, his older brother, he loved Nick more than anything. He would never, ever do anything to hurt Nick. There had to be some other explanation, Rick would never do that._

 _Yet the pain on his cheek and neck and the terrifying look Rick had on his face were enough to open the door of doubt in Nick's heart._

 _"Rick…?" Nick shook his head, taking his hand to his neck as he used the other one to sit up on the floor. He looked up at Rick with pleading eyes, still refusing to accept what had happened. "Rick, please, what is happen-"_

 _"Stop!" Rick yelled once again, taking his hands to his head and groaning. Each move that he made was shaky and unsure, as if he had forgotten how to control his body. Nick shrank in fear when his brother yelled, and when Rick turned his head to glare at him, he crawled away from him. "This, ok, this is hard enough, I can't, ok? I can't!"_

 _Nick tried to say something, but all that came out were sobs. He felt like his world had been shattered, all he believed with all his heart came down. He had felt something similar when he was muzzled, but that; that was over ten thousand times worse._

 _Rick rolled his eyes, let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand as he leaned against the wall with the other, knowing that he was going to fall if he didn't do so. "All I fucking need is some time to myself, got it?"_

 _"Rick…"_

 _The orange fox turned around and walked away from Nick, going towards their room. His knees gave in several times and he almost fell on his way there, but he managed to get to their room and slam the door shut._

 _The loud noise echoed through the house, startling Nick and hurting his ears. The portraits on the wall swung from side to side with the impact, and it wasn't until they stopped that Nick let out a raspy sigh and lay down on the floor. He curled up there and began crying, crying harder than he had ever done before; harder than when he was muzzled, even harder than he cried when his mother died. He could actually feel his throat getting dryer from the water loss that was a consequence of so many tears._

 _"Why? What did I do?" He whispered amongst his crying. "I, I don't understand."_

 _Nick was lost. He didn't know what had just happened, he didn't know what to do, and he didn't know what was going to happen from there. All he could do was cry. He missed his mother more than anything, he missed when his father was around; and now he felt like Rick was gone too. Not physically, but that fox he had seen, the fox who slapped him; that wasn't Rick._

 _"I don't…" Nick whispered again as he curled up and closed his eyes with a never stopping sobbing. Sleeping on the floor wasn't comfortable, but he couldn't get himself to stand up; his body and mind didn't seem to be functioning like they should, he was just a shaking mess of thoughts and tears. "I don't understand…"_

* * *

A calm silence fell over the room as Nick and Robin smiled at each other, both Rick and Judy watching the scene with proud smiles on their faces as well. Rick tried his best but still could not avoid the tears that were pricking the corners of his eyes with all the emotions that were sprouting inside him. Just the night before he lay awake wondering if his little brother was even alive; and now Nick was there, right in front of him, holding Robin. Rick silently prayed that that was not just a dream – and if it was, he never wanted to wake up.

The events of the day when Judy met Rick for the first time played like a movie in her head; how she had planned on getting Rick and Nick to meet when she thought they were related but didn't know each other and how she could never have expected the way things were going to turn out; but she had liked that unexpected outcome better than anything else she could have ever imagined.

Nick held Robin close to his chest with one hand while he caressed the tuft of fur on his head with the other, feeling the little fox contently rubbing his head against his hand in return. He smiled wildly as he held Robin, feeling something new blossoming deep inside of him. That little fox, that kid; he was something Nick thought he had lost ago – he was his family. He liked the thought of that.

However, the moment was broken when Nick caught a glimpse of orange fur out of the corner of his eye and saw Rick standing in front of him, suddenly remembering whose kid Robin was – as if Nick had just snapped out of a trance where he had momentarily forgot about his brother and who Rick was. He shook his head, his smile became a straight line and he took his hand away from Robin's face, getting a confused and sad frown from the younger fox.

Blurred images of his past flashed in Nick's mind; the weight of the grudge he held against his brother and that he had forgotten about when he held Robin seemed to be coiling up around his heart again and beginning to pull it down. He looked down with quick breaths in a moment of realization before looking back at Robin, who still held a confused frown on his face. It made Nick feel guilty, but at the same time, he couldn't help the bitter feelings he had towards his brother – or anything that had to do with him, such as his son.

Rick and Judy noticed Nick's actions and looked at each other in confusion for a split second before looking back at Nick as he began to speak.

"I think you better go back to your father now, kid." Nick said with a smile and a chuckle that were clearly forced to disguise something that he did not quite let show. "Like I said I'm not good with kids and it's only a matter of time before I let you fall or something. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Both Judy and Rick seemed to acknowledge Nick's reasons behind that. Judy let out a small frustrated gasp and scowled at Nick, but she sighed in disappointment as she knew there was nothing she could do about how Nick felt.

Robin took a deep breath, clearly disappointed to be leaving Nick's lap but also nodded and smiled slightly as he looked over his shoulder to look at Rick standing behind them; his smile quickly growing wilder at the idea of going back to his father. Rick sighed; his previous happiness was now shaken by Nick's actions as he hoped that Robin wouldn't notice how uncomfortable Nick had gotten from holding him. He knew Robin could get sad if he did notice, even if he wouldn't really understand Nick's reasons…

"Okay." Rick smiled with sad eyes, happy about finding Nick and that he was holding Robin but feeling stupid about everything he had done in the past when he realized Nick wasn't going to forgive him that soon… If he ever did forgive him. "Thanks for holding him, Nick."

Nick avoided Rick's gaze as his lips retracted into his mouth. "You're welcome… Rick."

However, just before Rick approached Nick enough to take Robin from him the door was open and they all stilled in their positions, turning their heads to look at it. Doctor Taylor walked into the room and Nick could feel it when Robin tried to hide his face in his chest. Looking from side to side in nervousness, Nick sighed and rubbed his back in an attempt to calm him down.

"Oh, Rick, good to see you're here." Taylor greeted as she walked into the room with a smile. She then looked aside and her eyes fell upon Robin, who was visibly scared as he shrank in Nick's lap and tried to hide himself among Nick's fur.

"I don't think he liked it that much when you had to pierce him to draw blood." Rick chuckled as he approached Nick and caressed Robin's head, getting the little fox to look up at his father from his uncle's chest with scared eyes. "Hey, my little Robin Hood, it's alright. She won't have to do it again."

Rick then turned to the cheetah and whispered, "You won't have to do it again, right?"

The cheetah chuckled and shook her head. "No, just that much was enough. But…"

Rick blinked in confusion as the doctor looked down at the clipboard she held in her hands, tapping her fingers on it and never finishing the sentence she'd started. He had seen people nervous before, and he could tell that that was exactly what she was in that moment. He could feel his heart speeding up inside his chest in apprehension, but gulped as he tried not to jump to any conclusions.

"But what?" He shakily urged her when she didn't complete her sentence soon enough. When she looked back at him with a half-smile, his heart went all the way up his throat. He glanced at Robin and his breath sped up when he noticed that he was paying to attention to her and seemed to be getting apprehensive as well.

Judy looked at Rick, then at Robin and then at Taylor; her eyes moving quickly from side to side as she also got nervous at the cheetah's silence. Looking at Nick, she saw that unlike what she expected after his last action, he also seemed to be getting nervous and worried about the cub.

"Would it be possible to speak with you alone?" Taylor asked looking at Rick and then slightly nodding towards Robin.

Rick took a deep and slow breath, apprehension locking up his throat. He shook his head and forced a smile, nodding.

"Hum, yeah, sure, if that's what you want." He gulped and turned to Nick with pleading eyes. "Sorry to ask, but do you think you can take him outside for me? I promise I'll be there as soon as possible."

Nick's eyes widened and he gulped with uneasiness, nervous at the idea of staying alone with Robin; so much that he didn't even notice the cub in his arms seemed to be a little scared. "Hum, I, I don't-"

Judy smiled smugly and approached Nick, reaching out for Robin. "Don't worry Nick, I can take him outside if you don't want to. Only, if I do you'll have to stay here with Rick as one of us has to stay here as well." She said with an innocent voice. "So just give him to me and…"

Nick's eyes widened again as he immediately nodded. "No, it's ok, I take him outside, you stay here." Nick said, finding it much more pleasant to keep company to the kid than to his brother as he gave a step back. "But try to make this quick, ok?"

Judy nodded as she folded her arms with a proud expression on her face.

"Thank you so much." Rick said to Nick with a smile before he approached his brother and bent down a little to give Robin a kiss on the top of his head, putting his hands on either side of the little fox's face. "I promise everything will be alright, ok? You have nothing to fear. Judy and Nick are nice cops, and I'll be there with you before you know it."

Robin still seemed scared, but his expression did sooth a little with his father's words as he nodded and held tighter onto Nick, who sighed before turning around and leaving the room. Rick did not take his eyes off his brother and son until Nick had closed the door. After that, he looked down at Judy.

"Why was it necessary that one of you stayed here with me?" He inquired with curiosity.

Judy rolled her eyes with a smile. "It wasn't. I just want to help him… Overcome a few things."

Rick looked confused, but then his eyes widened in understanding and he shook his head, letting out a small laugh before they both turned to Taylor; their amused expressions becoming worried ones when their eyes met those of the cheetah and they remembered what they were there for.

"So..." Rick started to say, feeling his heart beating fast once more as he clasped his hands together and tried to disguise his nervousness with a smile. "What is it he has?"

* * *

"Ok, you heard your father, we have to wait for him here." Nick told Robin as he sat the kid on one of the chairs in the waiting room and sat on the one by his side, looking down at Robin. "So, hum, yeah, I guess we just wait now."

Robin nodded at Nick and just kept looking at him, causing the older fox to clean his throat and look to the other side to avoid the kid's gaze. Nick never thought that there would be a day where he would be in an awkward situation with a five-year-old, but there they were. He shouldn't even be feeling nervous, yet all the conflicted emotions that he had inside him about Robin and everything that had happened that day made him feel that way.

After obliviously staring at Nick for what felt too long for comfort, Robin moved his head and began staring at the door of the office that they had just left. Nick looked down at him and expected him to look away from it anytime soon, but he didn't.

"What are you staring at?" Nick asked and raised an eyebrow, following Robin's gaze with his own to try and find what was so interesting he was looking at but there was only the door there.

Robin looked up at him and pointed at the door before looking back at it.

"Just… Just the door then?"

Without moving his gaze away from it, Robin nodded.

Nick blinked and made a confused face. "Why?"

Robin looked up at Nick again with a look that seemed to mean 'Isn't it obvious' and pointed at the door once more before whispering, "Dad."

Nick's eyes widened upon hearing his nephew's voice for the first time as he had even begun to think Robin lacked the ability to speak, but brushed it off as soon as he understood what he meant.

"So you're just going to stare at the door for whatever long it takes until your father's back?"

With one quick and sure movement of his head, Robin nodded.

"You know; it might take a while until that happens. Your neck is going to get sore."

Following the same pattern of his previous move, Robin shrugged.

Nick rolled his eyes and let out a sigh as he slouched down on the chair he was on. He slipped his body down until he was sitting on the very edge of his seat and put one of his legs over the other, folding his arms over his chest.

"You… You really like your father, don't you?" Nick muttered, his eyebrows coming together as he frowned and looked aside to look at Robin.

Robin sighed and straightened himself up on his seat, nodding once more as he looked down – probably getting tired of the position he was on before and giving up on the staring-at-the-door thing.

Nick rolled his eyes again, but his expression soothed when he saw the sad look Robin had on his face. Still, it seemed to bother him how Robin loved his father so much. If there was one person who did not deserve any love or consideration whatsoever, that was Rick. But then again, Robin probably didn't even know about the things his father had done in the past to his own brother. Nick felt extremely compelled to tell him about that, but he was just a kid. And Judy would probably kill him if he told stuff like that to a kid.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Nick.

"Hey, Robin?" He called with a smile, and the little fox slowly moved his head to look up at him. "Tell me, is Rick a good father to you?"

Tilting his head to the side in confusion, Robin nodded.

"Look, you can tell me anything, alright?" Nick encouraged, but that only got Robin to get even more confused. "Has your father ever done something, anything bad to you?"

Robin shook his head. Nick let out a sharp breath. There was no way his brother could ever be that good, even to his own son. After all, he had abandoned his own brother and who knows what he had been up to all those years after he disappeared.

"Seriously? Not even once?"

Another shook of head came from Robin.

"Hasn't he ever hit you, or yelled at you, or done anything of that sort? Anything that might have scared you, or hurt you in anyway?" Nick pleaded, not willing to believe he could be wrong about Rick and that Rick could actually be a good father. "You can tell me; you don't have to be afraid."

Robin sighed and shook his head again.

Nick furrowed and rolled his eyes again, groaning. "Fine then."

After that he looked aside with a bitter expression, not saying anything else. Robin's confusion grew and curiosity came along with it. Momentarily forgetting that he was waiting for his father, he jumped out of his seat.

"Hey, you heard Rick, you have to wait for him here with me and-" Nick got ready to stand up and go after the little fox, assuming Robin was going to try to run away or anything like that, but instead he stood right in front of his uncle. Nick tilted his head to the side and looked down at his nephew. "Hum, what do you want?"

Robin put his hands behind his back and smiled, shrugging.

Nick blinked. "Gee, don't you ever get in trouble for being so talkative?"

Robin shook his head and in one quick move, jumped into Nick's lap. Nick was startled, letting out a gasp and hitting his head against the wall behind his chair as he almost fell off his seat. Robin suppressed a laugh as Nick looked down at him with an incredulous look and rubbed the back of his head.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked.

Robin shrugged. For some reason, he liked that fox; even he did act a little strange sometimes. He looked and smelled a lot like Rick. Sure, the fact that he was a cop still scared him a little, but his father had said that he was a nice cop, and so was Judy; and there was no reason to think his father would ever lie to him.

Nick shook his head and grabbed Robin, attempting to put the younger fox on the ground, but as soon as he was lifted from his lap Robin gave Nick a heart breaking look and pouted. Nick seemed to hesitate for a second, but then he shook his head and proceeded to take Robin off his lap and sit him on the chair he previously was.

"I told you, stay put. We have to wait for your father to come back. No more playing around, we're in a hospital and you have to behave, alright?" Nick demanded, straightening himself up on his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.

Robin pouted, which made Nick feel guilty once more, but he shook his head to dismiss those feelings. His brother had abandoned him, broke all hopes he had and ruined his life – well, up to when he became a cop – and he was not willing to get any closer to him by getting closer to his son, even if he was beginning to actually like that kid.

Robin sighed before looking down and nodding. He then went back to looking at door, seeing that he had nothing to do but to wait for his father, starting to get a little apprehensive at how long he was taking to come back and suspicious at Nick as he didn't want to hold him.

Nick's ear perked up at a very low sound, and he realized it had come from Robin. He waited until he heard it again, and it wasn't long until he realized that the little fox was softly sniffing, and then a few seconds later Robin also began to sob.

"Hum, Robin? Are you alright?" Nick asked, putting his hand on Robin's shoulder and getting the cub to look up at him with big yellow eyes that were shining with unshed tears. Nick softly gasped and took his hand away, as if he feared that the slightest touch could hurt Robin and make him cry even more. "R-Robin?"

Robin forced a smile and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand as he nodded.

"Hey, your dad is alright, ok? I promise he'll be back really soon."

Staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing ever, Robin nodded again without any enthusiasm. Nick thought he had seen Robin's head shaking lightly when he nodded, which made him gulp in guilty.

With a sigh, Nick reached out for Robin and held him with his hands, lifting him from his seat. Robin's eyes widened and he seemed scared for a while, but shortly after he found himself on Nick's lap as Nick stroked his head, ruffling the tuft of fur he had on top of it. He still seemed confused, but no longer scared.

"Look," Nick said, trying the best he could to forget his pride and ignore the bitter feelings he had towards that kid for being Rick's son, "Your father is there. He is ok. He's going to be right back, ok? You don't have to afraid."

Robin nodded and then gave a small smile, closing his eyes and letting Nick caress him. With a yawn, he leaned forward and rested his head against Nick's chest; making himself comfortable in his lap. It didn't take long for him to doze off.

Nick sighed in frustration and then looked up, never stopping to caress Robin as he felt the cub's heartbeat against his own and his warm body against his chest. Nick knew it was silly to feel what he felt for Robin just because he was Rick's son, after all he was still an innocent kid; but at the same time he could not help it. It was Rick they were talking about, the Rick who he used to love with all his will and that broke his heart by abandoning him.

Still, everything he had seen that day proved that not only Rick had been a good father for Robin – otherwise the kid wouldn't love him so much – be he also hadn't done anything bad as far as they knew. He also had apologized to him for everything he had done in their past.

However, Nick couldn't just forgive all that and move on. He could not trust his brother, no matter how much evidence there was to back him up. Rick broke his promises, left him behind, beat him… Ok, now Nick knew he was drunk when it happened and it was just once, but that didn't change what he had felt that night. There was no way Rick was that goodie he was playing. Nick just knew there was something he wasn't letting onto.

Because Rick was still the hugest liar Nick had ever come to know and that could never, ever change.

* * *

 **Hope it wasn't too long, I don't like when I write over 5,000 words and this one has 6,500, wow. Well, hope you liked it! Sorry for the wait and thank you for all the follows, favorites and reviews this has gotten so far! You guys really keep me writing, your support is awesome! See you next chapter :)**


	11. As far as we know

**Transition chapter. Those are a little boring to write, but this is the last one before the story starts getting deeper - and I mean, really deeper. I'm sorry it took kind of long, school and my health have made me unable to write. I hope you guys like this!**

* * *

"Wait, what?" Rick asked as if he hadn't heard what the doctor had said. "He has what?"

"It's called appendicitis." Taylor replied with a sigh, letting her clipboard rest on the table before she turned back to the orange fox. "It's the inflammation of the appendix. You were very fortunate to bring him here before it could get any worse; if left untreated it could lead to some very serious consequences. And although he's not exactly in danger right now, it's already more serious than I'd like."

Rick's ears folded back as his jaw dropped and he gave a step back, rubbing his hands together as he tried to understand what the cheetah had just said. Just the thought of what could have happened to Robin was enough to make his heart go all the way up his throat before he tried to swallow it down with the lump it formed there.

"I've heard about that before, but… How did he even get that? His diet is mostly healthy, and his immune system is alright and I-"

He stopped talking when Taylor held out her hand. "Appendicitis doesn't always have a reason, Mr. Wilde. And while it is more frequent in adults, it happens in children too, like it happened with Robin."

Judy listened to the conversation with a worried expression on her face, but she shook it off and forced a smile in hopes to light up the mood.

"But we came here soon enough and that's what matters. And as far as I know, appendicitis is tractable, isn't it?"

That seemed to soothe Rick a little as his frown was replaced by a hopeful smile, but it soon faded again when he saw that Taylor still looked as worried as before.

"Well, yes, it is. Usually we do a surgery to remove the infected appendix before it can burst or anything like that; since it's not an essential organ removing it causes no harm. But considering how young and small Robin is, submitting him to such an invasive surgery could be even more dangerous than the disease itself. I just don't think it's worth the risk, unless his appendix was so bad that it was about to burst already; but thankfully that hasn't happened yet." Taylor said with a smile, but that still wasn't enough to disguise that she was nervous as she spoke.

Rick sighed with shaky hands as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So what do you suggest we do, exactly? Do nothing at all and just wait until it reaches a worse stage so that he can go to surgery and then just pray that he survives it?" He cried out in a burst, which caused Judy to jump a little before she went to his side to pat his back to comfort him. However, his outburst did not seem to disturb the doctor at all.

"Of course not. You see, appendicitis can be treated with antibiotics as well, but then again there's his age and size. He's just so young and he's also a little smaller than he should be for his age. While it's still much safer for him than the surgery, there will still be several side effects before he's healed." She sighed again and tried to look confident. "But after the treatment is done all of them will be gone and Robin will be just fine."

Rick nodded with his hand on his chin.

"What kind of side effects?" He asked, seemingly calmer, but still visibly apprehensive.

"Well, pretty much the same symptoms he's been showing now, but a little stronger, because his body will be reacting to the pills. You know, he may throw up with frequency, have trouble sleeping and eating, fever... And maybe some more, I'll give you a list. Usually we give the patients some pills to help cope with all the side effects as well, but I don't think it's a good idea to give a kid even more pills when the antibiotics are already so strong... Unless he reacts really badly to the treatment, but only time will tell."

"I understand." Rick nodded and forced a smile. "Well, if it has to be done... Let's do it."

Taylor nodded and smiled, picking up her clipboard from the table. "Before we start giving him the pills I'll prepare an IV for him since he's a little dehydrated from throwing up and all that. Can you go fetch him and take him to the infirmary? I'll meet you there very soon."

Rick nodded again with a smile on his face that was gone as soon as the doctor exited the room. With a sigh, he flopped down on one of the chairs in the room and bended forward, resting his elbows on his knees and hiding his face on his hands.

Judy watched him, confused, as he began to sob quietly. She stood in silence for a while as she gathered enough courage to approach him, tilting her head to the side.

"Rick?"

She stood still and waited for an answer or some kind of reaction from Rick, but it never came. He kept his head in his hands as his sobbing became lower and lower until he went silent, but he still didn't move at all.

Judy was about to call him again when she heard muffled words coming from his mouth, but she was not able to understand them as he still held his head buried in his hands. She waited in silence, but he didn't say anything else.

"Sorry, but what was that?" She finally asked after a while, approaching Rick even more and laying a hand on his knee. Her eyes were looking up at him with kindness when he raised his head from his hands and looked down at the bunny. His eyes were watery as he sighed and rested his back against the back of the chair.

"Robin," He sighed, "He was a premature baby. That's why he's so small for his age."

Judy's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected information as she nodded, trying to think of what she could say next, but before she could come up with anything, Rick began to speak again.

"He was almost one week early. Back then, he almost didn't make it, he was just so small... His health was never the best because of that, and I just..." Rick stopped talking and began to stare at nowhere in particular, taking a deep breath with a shaky head before turning his attention back to Judy. "I'm just so worried. He was never exactly healthy, but he had never... I just didn't expect a simple stomachache would turn out to be something so serious."

Judy took a deep breath and nodded. "Look, I understand you're worried, but we brought him here in time. That's what matters. And the doctor said he's going to be alright. Sure, there will be those side effects she mentioned but he's going to be just fine once they're gone, so there's no reason to worry."

Judy thought she had seen the glance of a smile sparkle across Rick's face, but rather than smiling, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes, putting his hands together.

"It's not... It's not just that." He said, staring off into the space again, his eyes seemed dull and blank. "It was already hard enough when he was just a little sick. Now I'll have to stay by his side the whole day, I can't just leave him alone with what he'll be going through and I have nobody to watch him for me. I just don't know how I'm going to work; and if I don't pay the rent soon we'll be kicked out and he can't be on the streets when he's sick and I-" Each word he said came out faster than the previous one and he only stopped because he had run out of air for speaking without a pause to breathe. With another sigh, he hung his head and tapped his fingers on his knee.

Judy's face fell. When she understood what was going on, she gave a step back and bit her bottom lip, blinking, as she seemed lost in thought.

"Well, anyway," Rick said and that got Judy to snap out of her thoughts. When she looked up at him again he had a smile in his face, and seemed as well as if his previous outburst had never happened and he had everything under control. "Thank you so much, Judy. I don't think I can ever thank you enough for what you've done for me and my son. Without you he could have d- You know, so, thank you. Thank you very much."

He stood up from his seat and reached out for her with a sincere smile. Judy looked at his hand for a while before taking it with watery eyes, her hand shaking.

"I, you're welcome. Really, I just did the right thing and I like to help people. That's why I became a cop, after all. And…" She stopped her sentence when she let his hand go, taking a step back. "I think I may know how I can help you even more."

He cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "Judy, you've done more than you should have already, and I can't possibly think of what else you can do for us. Really, thank you."

She smiled and looked down before looking up at him. "When I met you, you mentioned you were unemployed. And just a few seconds ago, you mentioned that you may get kicked out. And you're right, Robin can't stay alone when he's so sick. So…" Judy took a deep breath and smiled innocently. "I'm inviting you two to stay with me until Robin is healed."

Rick's smile became a straight line, his eyes widened and he frowned in confusion before crossing his arms and looking down at Judy, incredulous. "You can't be serious."

She smiled and nodded. "I am. Really, I've moved to a bigger apartment a few months ago and there should be enough space for the three of us."

Rick blinked as he let his arms fall to the side of his body. He gulped and held out his hands, giving a step back. "Judy, I can't ask you to do that, you've done so much already, I can't become even more of a burden to you."

"First of all," She held out her hand as well, counting on her fingers as she listed her reasons, "You're not asking, I'm offering. Secondly, it's not a burden. Think of it as a help from a friend. And if it bothers you that much, think that I'm doing it for Robin. I can't let a sick kid end up on the streets, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night! So come on, just accept it."

Rick let out a heavy sigh. "I don't think my brother will approve this."

Judy tilted her head to the side and folded her arms. "What do you mean?"

"I've… I wasn't really a good brother to Nick. It's a long story, but to make it shorter, I abandoned him. You saw what happened out there, he hates me and he doesn't want to stay near me… And I don't blame him. You're his partner; I don't think he'd be happy with that."

"Well, last time I checked Nick was not the boss of me. I do care for his opinions and I understand him, but if he says he doesn't want me to shelter you and your son, too bad. I want to help you, I really do. And who knows, if he got to know you again he would see that you're a good guy now and let go of the past you two had."

Rick took a deep breath, looking down as he thought about all the bunny had just said. He knew that Robin was in a delicate situation, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to provide everything his son needed… Just like he wasn't able to do for Nick all those years ago, and that was the reason why he ended up running away. Giving up now, however, was no longer an option.

 _It should never have been an option…_ He thought to himself, tears pricking on the corners of his eyes as memories he wished he didn't have suddenly came to his mind; memories of sixteen years before.

When he decided to take care of Robin, he promised himself he would do everything for his son, just like he should have done for his brother, even if he had to give up everything for him. He promised himself that Robin would always come in first place, no matter what.

Now it was time to swallow his pride once more for him.

"Ok… But as soon as he's better, you'll let me repay everything. And I'll help you with your house and with anything else you may need. And…" He scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. "And just… Thank you. Thank you so much."

Judy smiled at him and nodded, letting out a relieved sigh. "You're welcome. But let's worry about that later, now we have to go fetch Robin and take him to take that IV. Come on, Taylor may be there already."

He nodded, barely being able to contain his smile as he wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and followed the bunny outside, his heart speeding up with the thought that he was going to face his brother again.

* * *

Nick didn't know for how long Robin had been asleep on his chest, but it was enough time to make him rather sleepy as well. He looked down at the little fox once more, caressing his tuft of fur and watching as his chest went up and down quietly. Nick let his head fall back and closed his eyes, ready to doze off as well when he was disturbed by the sound of an opening door.

His head perked up as he took his hand to his eyes and rubbed them, yawning, but being careful not to disturb Robin's sleep. He blinked to adjust his sight, and soon enough he was able to see Judy and Rick walking toward him.

"Hey, there", Nick greeted as he sat up, using a soft voice so that Robin wouldn't wake up. "I was wondering when you two were going to appear."

"Sorry we took so long; we were talking… About Robin and all." Rick said, not entirely sure of how much he should tell Nick about what Judy had said. He was not willing to see how his brother would react to what she had suggested.

Judy nodded as she approached Nick and looked tenderly at Robin.

"It's ok." Nick said, his expression merely blank when he looked at Rick. "What did the doctor say about him?"

Nick's blank expression changed quickly when he saw how worried Rick looked upon hearing his question.

"It's appendicitis." Rick replied with a sigh.

"Hum, what? But he's just a kid." Nick said, looking down worryingly at the child in his lap.

"I know, I said the same thing. Apparently his age doesn't really mean anything in this case, aside from making it worse that is." Rick sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "Now we have to take him to the infirmary to take an IV and then his treatment begins. May I?"

Rick extended his arms towards Robin, and Nick straightened up on his seat as he nodded, taking his arms off the kid so that his brother could pick him up. Soon enough he was in Rick's arms, and although he had stirred a little, the movement wasn't enough to fully wake him up.

"Hey, Robin," Rick called, caressing Robin's face, "Wake up. I need you to wake up now. You can sleep soon, but for now… Come on, Robin."

Robin blinked his yellow eyes open, rubbing them and letting out a soft yawn; still sleepy. However, as soon as his sight adjusted and he looked up at his father, he quickly woke up and reached for his Rick's face, wrapping his arms around his neck and smiling. Rick stilled in surprise before returning Robin's embrace. Judy and Nick couldn't help but smile – although the latter clearly tried to suppress it.

"So, shall we go now?" Judy asked.

"Oh, sure, just a moment." Rick said, kneeling down and sighing as he put Robin on the floor and looked at him in the eye. "Hey, little Robin Hood, remember last week when you weren't feeling very well, which was why we brought you here?"

Robin tilted his head to the side and nodded.

"So, the doctor found something. You see, there's a thing on your belly that's hurt, and because that thing is hurt, it caused you all that pain. Now we have to treat it so that you get better, understood?" Rick said as he took Robin's hand in his.

Robin suddenly became uneasy and scared, but nodded again.

"Great. Now we'll take you to the infirmary, and you'll take an IV. That means they'll have to put a small needle in your arm for a while, but it won't hurt, I promise. I just need you to be good, ok?"

Robin's mouth opened slightly before he closed it and gulped. Rick squeezed his hand a little tighter to comfort him, which brought Robin's attention back to him. He looked at his father for a little longer before nodding again, yet this time he did it slower.

"You're a good boy. Everything will be alright, I promise." Rick said as he kissed Robin's forehead before picking him up from the floor and standing up again. Robin seemed rather shaky as he made himself comfortable in his father's arms.

Judy chuckled softly. "Come with us, we'll show you where the infirmary is!" She said before she began to walk, being followed by a grumpy Nick and a smiling Rick.

Rick bit his lower lip before he jogged to get by Nick's side, which caused Nick to step aside to increase the distance there was between them.

"Hey, Nick," Rick called with a smile, yet Nick didn't look at him. Rick took a deep breath before continuing his sentence. "Thank you for watching Robin while I was in there. And sorry it took us so long."

"Whatever." Nick huffed. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw that his rude answer seemed to have scared Robin as he shrank in Rick's lap. That made Nick feel worse than he thought he would. "Hum, I mean, you're welcome. No biggie." He shrugged, forcing a smile.

Rick smiled at Nick, which Nick replied with a slight roll of his eyes, but smiled as well not to scare Robin again. After that, their walk was silent and Nick sped up so that he was by Judy's side and not Rick's. Rick watched his brother and Judy from behind, sighing.

"So, do you like Nick and Judy?" Rick asked Robin in a whisper with a smile.

Robin looked at the cops walking in front of them before looking up at his father and nodding with a small smile.

"Nice cops." He whispered in response.

Rick laughed under his breath and hugged Robin tighter, but being careful not to squeeze his stomach too much.

"Yeah, they are." He nodded. "Very nice cops."

* * *

The infirmary was so white that it seemed to hurt their eyes when they went in. It was almost empty; there were only a few nurses who didn't seem to be doing much aside from chatting about nothing at all. They all turned their heads when they heard the door opening and watched as the three foxes and the bunny walked in.

"Hey, there," One of the nurses, a koala dressed in light green, greeted as she approached them, "You must be Mr. Wilde, right? And I suppose this is Robin." She said, looking up at the cub. "Taylor told me you were coming in. Come here; sit your boy in that bed and I'll be right back to give him the IV. I'm Carla, by the way."

Nick and Judy stepped aside to make room for Rick as he approached the koala and reached out for her with one hand as he held Robin with the other. "Thank you. I'll go make him comfortable on the bed."

Carla nodded and turned around, going into a room that had a sign that said 'Employees only' as Rick went to the corner of the room where the bed the koala had indicated was. Judy and Nick watched it as he put Robin there and sat by his side, rubbing his back as he said soothing words to his son.

"You have to admit, he's a really good father." Judy said to Nick, folding her arms and smiling. Nick rolled his eyes and huffed.

"I guess. As far as we know, at least." He muttered, crossed his arms and looked aside. "Are you going to stay here until the IV is over or what?"

"I think I will. I don't want to leave them alone, and I want to see how Robin will react. I'm a little worried, I mean, I didn't expect it to be something as serious as appendicitis. I just want the boy to be fine."

Nick looked down and blinked, thoughtful, before he sighed. "Yeah, me too. Maybe once the doctor says he can go home we can go there after work to see how he's doing, you know, just for a few days. Until he gets better. Then those two will be out of our tails forever." He said, trying to seem happy to disguise that he was sad at the thought of never seeing his nephew again. Well, he had been a con artist, he was sure he could come with an excuse to see him later once Robin was healed.

Judy's eyes widened as she looked down and tried to think of the best way to string words together to tell Nick what she wanted to say. "Hum, yeah, about that… I think I will see them every day after work."

Nick turned his head and looked down at her, yet she avoided his gaze. "Ok, I get that you're worried, but you don't need to go see them every single day. I'm sure Robin will be fine."

Judy forced a chuckle. "I'll keep you informed about it, but still, I think I'll still see them every day nevertheless." Her voice then became lower, but it was still audible, "Because I invited Robin and Rick to stay with me until he gets better."

"Oh, ok, in that case-" Nick stopped his sentence when Judy's words finally sank in. His eyes widened and his ears shot up as he sharply turned his head to look at the rabbit. "You did _what_?" He exclaimed in a jump.

Judy jumped back, startled. Nick realized everyone in the room, including his brother and nephew, had stopped what they were doing to give him a puzzled look. He gave them an apologetic smile and a little wave before turning back to Judy.

"Are you crazy?" He asked in a whisper, yet still angrily. "How could you invite- What were you thinking? Were you even _thinking_?"

Judy took a deep breath, already expecting that was how he was going to react.

"Look, Nick, he's unemployed and if he doesn't pay the rent soon he's going to get kicked out. And you can't expect me to know about it and just let it happen!" She stomped her foot, not exactly angry, just wanting to establish some authority to let Nick know she wasn't changing her mind.

"The same way you can't expect me to just let you take someone like him into your house as if he was an old friend! We don't know if we can trust him yet, and honestly, I don't think I ever will. I trusted him once and that didn't turn out good." He sighed and closed his eyes, opening them again to give Judy a painful look. "Judy, I care about you, I care a lot about you. And I don't trust Rick at all. What if he does something to you while you sleep, or… Judy, I can't let you do that. I'd never forgive myself."

Judy's expression soothed when she realized that Nick was concerned for her safety, but she still couldn't help feeling bad for Rick. She hadn't known him that long, but she felt like she could trust him. She looked aside and saw that he was still talking to Robin, and seemed unaware that she and Nick were talking about him.

"Nick," She sighed, "I'm glad you care for me, but you don't have to worry. I know you don't want to hear this, but your brother seems a good guy to me." She realized he was going to say something so she rushed to finish before he could interrupt her. "And I can't just let him and Robin get kicked out. Robin can't go to the streets when he's sick, and Rick can't work and leave him alone when he's like that. Do you really want Robin to go through that? He may even… You know… Not survive if that happens."

Nick's eyes widened as he took in everything that Judy had just said, especially the last part. She smiled when she noticed that he seemed thoughtful, knowing that he cared for Robin even if he claimed he didn't. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh and crossed his arms.

"Of course I don't want that to happen to him. I want him to be fine, just like I want every innocent to be fine. But still, I can't just let you do that. I mean, we know nothing about Rick! I hadn't heard from him in sixteen years, who knows what he did in his past? I have my reasons to think it wasn't anything good."

Judy shrugged. "Nick, I understand how you feel but-"

"Which is why," He interrupted, "I'm telling him to stay with me."

Judy's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "You're going to invite Rick to stay with you?" A smile grew wild in her face as she thought it meant he was finally willing to give Rick a chance. "That's great, I'll go tell him and-"

"Hold your horses there, Carrots." He said, holding her arm before she could go talk to Rick. "I know what you're thinking, but it's not what it seems. I do care for that kid, and yeah, he's my nephew and I want him to be fine. But I see it more as a chance to get some answers from that rascal I am unlucky to call my brother. I mean, what was he up to all those years? And what exactly happened to Robin's mother? Yeah, he's got some explaining to do and I have some answers to get. I thought it was bad that you had found him, but I might as well try to enjoy this situation in the best way possible." A sly smile appeared on his face.

Judy rolled her eyes in disappointment. "Nick, what your brother needs right now is a place to stay so that he can take care of his son. He does not need you to be all paranoid over him. You can try to get as many answers as you want, but please do not make this your personal investigation as if he was a criminal, because he's not!"

"As far as we know, Judy." Nick muttered under his breath as he started to walk toward his brother and nephew, a defiant look on his face. Judy shook her head and followed him, looking down. "As far as we know."

* * *

 **I asked my mom (she's a doctor) for help to write the parts about Robin. Some of it may not be 100% accurate, but I tried to keep it as real as possible. Also, I had written much more (This chapter was 8,000 words long) but it felt too long so I decided to split it and change a few things. Next chapter will be done much sooner since I already have part of it written down.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, and also for all the reviews/favs/follows!**

 **(To the guest who asked if they could make a drawing based on this, sure! Just show me if you do it!)**


	12. Father?

**I have been in a writing mood, but I wasn't having much time because I needed to go to school and take all the classes I missed because I was sick for the past few weeks. I'm not exactly cured, but I'm back home and finally took all the classes I needed to replace those I couldn't go to. I was really excited to finally get to this part of the story! I hope you guys like it, have a nice reading!**

 **Also, to the guest who pointed a few flaws, thank you very much! I'll really try to flesh out Rick more from now on based on your review. Remember guys, I'm always open to some criticism as long as it's done politely, I love to hear what you're thinking of the story! It helps me improve and thus keeps the story better for you all to read. Thanks again!**

 **Flashback chapter. Usually I always write something else to go with the flashback, but this got so long that I decided it'd be better off as a chapter itself, I hope that was ok. Also, keep the title of this fic in mind as you read this ;)**

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 _Usually Rick would take a bus whenever he was headed to the park since it would really save him some time, but he felt like he needed to take a walk there that time instead. Walking always helped him to organize his thoughts and clean his mind, no matter how confused or lost he was; but that time it just wasn't working as well as it usually did. Thoughts, doubts and worries crowded his mind in a jumbled mess._

 _Rick walked in slow steps with his hands stuck deep down his pockets and his head down, looking down at the ground bellow as if it was the most interesting thing ever. He bumped into several animals on his way because of that, but he was so distracted by his deep thoughts that he barely even acknowledged the excuses or eventual bad names those he bumped into would say. All he did, when he did something at all, was just shrug in a poor attempt of an apology and glance at the animal he had bumped into._

 _As he stopped walking to wait for a proper moment to cross the road, he tried to put some order into his noisy mind. The call he had received earlier still echoed on the corners of his mind, and it didn't matter how much he tried he still could not make any sense out of it. Anxiety and fear locked up his throat whenever he thought about it. A little voice inside his head told him that he should have stayed home and just left Lydia waiting for him there, but he just knew he would never be able to do that. Not to her._

 _He didn't know why he still cared about her so much, but for some reason, he did. And he hated himself for that. She didn't deserve any consideration. What could she possibly want with him anyway? She made it very clear that she never wanted to see him again. Even after all he did for her, after all they had shared... All of her promises and words were just lies thrown bluntly at his face. How could he have fallen for all of that? How could he have gotten just so blinded by her beauty, soft voice and bright yellow eyes that seemed to look deep into his soul whenever she looked at him that he…_

 _Rick shook his head to try to get rid of those unwanted memories and come back to reality when the traffic light became red and all the cars slowly stopped, allowing the waiting pedestrians to finally cross the road. Rick sighed and raised his head, looking up ahead and seeing the gate of the park on the next block. He walked up to it, but stood still there instead of entering it right away, just watching the animals in there._

 _Several happy kids played and ran all around as their parents watched them, some adults who were alone sat down and read a book or just happily took in the pleasant surroundings. He stood by the gate, just watching all the happy families that were there; and for a split second he was taken back to the hill where he'd spend his afternoons with his little brother, reading the Robin Hood book and fantasizing about one day being heroes together. Who'd have guessed he'd end up being the villain of his own story instead…_

 _Rick felt tears forming on the corner of his eyes and wiped them away with his hand as he entered the park at last. That was when he realized they hadn't set up a meeting place when she asked him to go there. He was about to wonder if he should call her, but he really didn't want to do that. At the same time, he was curious – and worried – to find out what she wanted to talk to him about._

 _Looking around once more, he spotted a tree. The tree underneath which he had so stupidly confessed his feelings and where he stupidly believed her when she confessed hers. He didn't know if she would even remember it, but that used to be their usual meeting place whenever they needed to talk. It made sense that she would look for him there. With another sigh and a roll of his eyes he walked toward the tree, slamming his back against its trunk and folding his arms over his chest._

 _Rick looked around once more to look for Lydia one last time before looking down and getting lost in his thoughts again. He thought of Nick, of Lydia, of everything he had been through thus far…_

 _"Rick?"_

 _Rick snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called by that unmistakable voice. His eyes widened when they fell upon Lydia standing just a few feet away from him._

 _The vixen was shorter than usual, which made her look younger than she really was. Her fur was a deep shade of red and unlike most foxes she had the tip of her tail in a clean white color. But without a doubt her flashiest trait was the pair of bright yellow eyes she had, that seemed to shine like gold when she was under the sunlight._

 _A few moments filled with an awkward silence passed as they just looked at each other, neither of them seemed to know what they should say. Rick used these moments to look at her and take in her image and presence. He bit his lip when he was hit by feelings and emotions he did not mean to have ever again as he tried to tell his speeding heart to slow down._

 _"Hey." He replied dryly after some time._

 _"Hey." She looked down and drew a circle with her foot. "Thanks for coming, I didn't know if you would after what happened."_

 _"Well, unlike some people I really mean the things I say." He frowned at her and she seemed hurt, which made him gulp in guilty and look away from her. He had to swallow down the apologies he wanted to say. Another few moments of silence passed before she cleaned her throat and he looked up at her again._

 _"Look, I know we're not really…" Lydia gulped as well and looked up, as if she was looking for the right words. "I know we're not really on the best of terms, and I know I'm probably the person you least want to see right now, but there's something I need to tell you."_

 _"Well, just tell me what it is you have to say so that we can move on with our lives." He said, tilting his head to the side and rolling his eyes._

 _"It… It's not that simple, Rick." She shook her head and looked down, bracing herself with her arms. "I told you it was serious. I would never call you and ask you to come if it wasn't."_

 _Rick blinked in confusion, his previous angry frown being replaced by surprise and confusion. He gasped lightly when he noticed she was shaking and had watery eyes. It was so weird to see her afraid and shaken. She seemed so… Fragile. That wasn't like her._

 _"Hey, calm down there. Come on, I'm sure it'll be ok." He approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Lydia gasped at his touch, looking aside at his hand on her shoulder with wild eyes before looking at his eyes._

 _As soon as their gazes met Rick's eyes widened and he gave a step back, blushing lightly and cleaning his throat. Lydia looked down and scratched her arm awkwardly, blushing as well. However, her red fur did a better job at hiding it than his orange one._

 _"Hum, so, anyway, what is it you want?" He asked bitterly._

 _She seemed to snap out of a trance as she shook her head and looked at him; eyes watery and filled with desperation. She took a deep breath and let her arms fall to the side of her body, changing her expression into a serious one. She could feel her face warming as she began to speak, clearly struggling to find the right words for what she wanted to say but trying to hide her nervousness as well as she could._

 _"Rick, do… Do you remember around two weeks ago when we were here and we talked and then we, well... You know… Went to your apartment… Do you know how we, you know, did it?" Lydia said, gulping._

 _His eyes widened, for that was the last thing he ever thought she'd bring up. "Oh, hum, of, of course I remember that. I mean, how could I not… It was after you said you loved me and before you said you never wanted to see my face again." He muttered with a humorless laugh. "It was stupid, sorry. We really shouldn't have. But… What does that have to do with anything now?"_

 _"I know what I said, ok? Stop reminding me of that." She said in a pleading voice, as if the memories hurt her. She took her hands to her head and scrunched her eyes closed._

 _He took a raspy deep breath and his eyebrows came together in a bitter expression. However, before he could say anything she held out her hand and sighed, trying to calm herself and him down._

 _"Rick, really, this is going nowhere. Just let me tell you what I have to say, please. I wasn't lying when I said it was important." She said quietly as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and sniffed._

 _Rick's expression quickly softened. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to calm himself down before he looked back at her. "Ok, fine. It's probably best this way anyway." He shrugged. "So, what is it?"_

 _Straightening herself up and folding her arms again, Lydia bit her lip and closed her eyes, which she kept closed as she finally spoke what was on her mind, "Rick, I'm pregnant."_

 _Just like that, Rick felt the world shaking around him. His eyes widened and he gasped as he gave a step back and looked from side to side, still trying to wrap his brain around what she had just said and tried to let the facts sink in, but it was almost like he couldn't comprehend it._

 _"You're what?!" He exclaimed in a jump, still dumbfounded._

 _She hissed at his reaction before finally opening her eyes to look at him sadly. He had his eyes wild and she could swear she could hear his heart pounding inside his chest, and hers wasn't beating slowly either._

 _"I'm pregnant, ok?" She shrugged and looked down. "That's it, that's what I wanted to tell you."_

 _Rick's jaw dropped once more, and his mouth remained agape as he shook his head in disbelief. "B-But, how, just… Are you entirely sure?"_

 _She raised an eyebrow at him and sighed._

 _"Yes, I'm sure. I'd been very sick for the past week and suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my stomach and then my period didn't come when it was supposed to. It wasn't hard to put two and two together after that. Then I got one of those pregnancy tests and it was positive, but no surprise there. I already expected it. I freaked out like you did now, but I guess I had time to wrap my brain around it by now." Her eyes began to get watery again as she took a deep breath. "I just thought you should know. I'm pregnant, Rick; and you're the father. That's it."_

 _Rick shook his head and closed his mouth at last, slamming his back against the tree again and let his arms fall to the side of his body; feeling his knees shaking._

 _"Hum, how're you feeling?" He looked at her from the side of his green eyes. She shrugged and went to his side, resting her back against the tree as well._

 _"Not that bad. Just getting some morning sickness and my appetite has been weird. I would have told you earlier, but I didn't know if I should. Then I figured that if I didn't tell you, someone else would. Or you would see me around eventually and you'd find out. I just thought it was better if I was the one who told you."_

 _"What do you mean, you didn't know if you should tell me? It's our baby! How could you think it would be ok not to tell me?"_

 _She half smiled and scoffed. "Look, in the end it doesn't make a difference. I just thought you had the right to know, ok?"_

 _He frowned and tilted his head. "What… What do you mean, it doesn't make a difference?"_

 _Lydia nodded and looked at him with a serious expression. "Rick, as soon as this baby is born I'm giving it up for adoption."_

 _He frowned with a slight gasp. "What?"_

 _"That's the only option we have. It's what is best for all of us, including the baby."_

 _"Lydia, that's not the only option, neither is it the best. Look, I know we're not on the best of terms, but we can make this work; for the baby. I can take care of you while you're pregnant and then-"_

 _"Rick," She held up her hand, "I knew you were going to say something like that. But let's be real, how could it ever work? I don't want to be a mother, that's really… Not for me. And the job we have, well, it's not exactly the type of job that good parents have, and I don't think we could conciliate parenthood with it." She shrugged. "And… You know what I said last week. I don't… I don't…" She stuttered and closed her mouth, looking down and never finishing her sentence._

 _"You don't love me; it was all a mistake. I know." He muttered. "But still, Lydia, you can't just decide something that in one week, it's a life changing matter. This baby, it's your baby, and mine; it's our child. It should be our decision, not yours only."_

 _"Oh yeah?" She let out a humorless laugh. "And what do you suggest we do? Move in together? Look, I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to raise this baby, I don't want to. I'd be a terrible mother anyway. What kind of life could we offer? It's going to have a better future if we let someone else take care of it."_

 _Rick took in her words and glanced at her stomach, which was flat and hidden under her baggy gray shirt, but she did seem to have gained some weight now that he was looking closely. He wondered how long it would be until her pregnancy began to show, how long it would be until their baby – his child – was born. He wondered how it'd look like, if it was going to be a boy or a girl, and how it'd be called._

 _"Rick?" She called._

 _"I don't know if I want to do that." He looked at her. "I don't know if I can do that, Lydia."_

 _She tilted her head. "Do what?"_

 _"Give up my child for adoption. Just, just letting it go and never knowing what happened to them, or how they are, or even if they're alive. I… I can't do that again; I would never be able to live with myself."_

 _"Do that again? What do you- oh. You… You're talking about your brother, aren't you?" She asked with a soft voice._

 _Without looking at her, he nodded._

 _"Rick," She sighed, "I know how much he meant to you, but really, it's been almost nine years since he disappeared. I know you had no option and you took this job to be able to provide it for him and go get him back eventually, but it didn't work. And look where you are now." She bit her lip. "Look at where we are now. I'm no better than you. Do you really think we would be able to give this child a good life?"_

 _His lips quivered and his eyes began to feel wet, just like they always did whenever he thought of Nick. He closed his eyes and a few tears rolled down his face. "I guess you're right. I just… I feel guilty, I left my brother, and now I'm leaving my child?"_

 _"Rick, you're a good person, really. You're really kind, and caring and you try your best. I know that you would have done anything to protect your brother. You're not leaving this child; you're giving them a chance to end up at a better place than we did."_

 _He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really think I'm all of that?"_

 _She nodded. "Yes. You are all of that, and much more."_

 _"Then why did you leave me? Why can't we try and…?"_

 _Lydia gasped and looked down at her feet, kicking some small rocks. "Rick, you wouldn't understand. Please, please believe me when I say it was the best. It really was. For you and for me. And this is what's better for the baby." She laid, laying a hand on her stomach._

 _He nodded in silence and let out a sigh. "Fine. Good luck. With everything."_

 _She smiled. "Thanks. You too, by the way. I don't know if there's anything you need luck with, but yeah, good luck."_

 _He smiled back at her. "Thanks. So, when are you due?"_

 _"Around six weeks from now. Don't worry, I'll get all medical help and make sure everything's going well. I may not want to raise this baby but…" Lydia gulped and began to caress her belly, but right after that she quickly took her hand away from it as if touching it burned her hand. "I just want it to be fine."_

 _"Ok, I'm glad. And Lydia…" He called, but then gulped and looked away._

 _She looked at him in curiosity and raised an eyebrow. "What?"_

 _"I… I want to be part of your pregnancy. I want to be there for you. If you need anything or anyone, please call me, alright? And if you don't mind, I'd like to go with you to your appointments to see how everything's going… If that's alright with you."_

 _Her eyes widened and the glance of a smile could be seen across her face, so she looked down to hide it. "That's very sweet of you, but you don't have to. I have this under control. You can just go home and move on, I can't until this baby is born. I don't want you to be a part of it because you feel like you have to."_

 _"I never said I feel like I have to, I want to. I mean, yeah, you're the one carrying it, but we're both to blame for this. And I was really young, but I remember when my mother was pregnant with my brother. After a while it gets hard to do stuff by yourself. Just know you can count on me until this is over, and after I promise that you'll never have to see my face again, alright?"_

 _Her smile grew wilder, but it soon became a thin line as she nodded. "Fine. So… Yeah, that's what I had to say. Thanks for coming, and… I'm glad we sorted this out."_

 _"Yeah, me too. And thanks for telling me. Remember to call me if you need anything, alright?" He looked at her with a smile and kind eyes._

 _"I… I will." She took a deep breath and let out a giggle. "It's actually comforting to know you'll be there. This pregnancy thing was kind of freaking me out, you know, there's a living thing growing inside of me and all. But I'll let you know whatever happens."_

 _"Well, it's the least I can do. Just know that I still lov…" He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I still care about you, ok? Even if you think what we had was a mistake, I… I still care." He finished his sentence and shrugged._

 _Lydia's eyes were shining with unshed tears. She rubbed her eyes and swallowed the lump she felt in her throat. "Ok." It was all she managed to say in a shaky, weak voice._

 _"So…" Rick said, not knowing what else to say as he felt his cheeks warming up again._

 _"Thank you, Rick. Goodbye." She said quickly and held out her hand. He looked at it for a while before taking her hand in his and shaking it. It felt so weird how this all felt like a business deal rather than two people talking about their baby. He never thought he'd be a father, but that definitely wasn't how he thought it would ever be if he became one._

 _"Goodbye, Lydia." He said as he felt her hand slip from his. They exchanged glances one more time before she nodded and turned around to leave, not even once looking behind. He stood still and watched her as she walked away until she was out of sight._

 _After that he took a deep breath and slammed his back against the tree, sliding down and sitting on the ground. He looked around for a while, just reflecting about all that had just happened. Had it all happened two weeks before, he'd be thrilled to know he was having a child with the girl he loved, and now it seemed to be the worst thing possible. Soon enough he'd be a father of a kid he'd never even know._

 _He had failed Nick, and now, he was once again going to fail someone who needed him._

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 **Many sites and people told me that having two OCs going through a pregnancy scenario was a bad idea, so I hope I did alright. Lydia is an important character and I hope this was a nice way to introduce her and some more details... As well as some more mysteries. Come on, don't be mad at me. This is supposed to have some suspense after all.**

 **I promise next chapter won't take as long since I already have part of it written down and I have free time again. I got better since I wrote the first author's note and it's great to be able to write again! Turns out I needed new glasses, which explains my constant headaches.**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review ^^**


	13. A twist

**Hey there guys!**

 **Wow, writer's block was tough this time. I swear to God I couldn't write to save my life! School was probably holding me back - and also my sleep schedule that I managed to mess up at the worst time possible. But I'm back and ready to write! Sorry it took so long, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **Also, I began writing my first original book -is nervous- Wish me luck!**

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Robin was half-asleep laying on the hospital bed with his head resting on his father's lap as Rick caressed him tenderly when Nick and Judy approached them. Judy was cheerful yet slightly anxious due to all previous events and to the talk she had just had with Nick, while he held a smile on his face that didn't seem forced, but clearly wasn't spontaneous either.

"So, how's he doing?" Judy asked, and only then Rick seemed to notice that Judy and Nick had returned as his head quickly perked up at the sound of her voice and he looked up from Robin, a smile sprouting on his face when he saw the cops.

"Oh, he's alright. He's just a little sleepy, but no surprise there. I think the news got him a little nervous, you know, he's not exactly a fan of needles piercing his body and all that. But I'm sure he'll be alright. He's a brave little boy." Rick said as he looked down at Robin again. The little fox's eyes were only slightly open, and they closed at last once Robin took a calm deep breath as he dozed off.

Nick rolled his eyes, making a mouth motion with his hand and a kissy face to mock Rick's sweetness toward his son, but winced when Judy nudged him in the side before Rick could see what Nick was doing. Rick looked up in confusion when he heard Nick's whine, but Nick and Judy were already forcing smiles as in to dismiss the topic when they noticed that the other fox was looking at them.

Rick raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask anything they all turned their heads when they heard steps approaching them. It was Carla, who was coming towards them with a plastic bag full of a yellow liquid and a smile on her face as she looked at Robin. While she set everything up, Rick put his hand on Robin's shoulder and shook him softly to wake him up. Robin blinked his eyes open and let out a groan, clearly unhappy to have his slumber interrupted so quickly.

"Hey, Robin, you have to wake up now." Rick said as he took Robin off his lap and helped him sit up on the bed before standing up.

Robin lazily rubbed his eyes as Rick put a hand on his shoulder. As soon as his sight adjusted back to the light he looked up at his father and smiled at him, getting a smile from Rick in return. However, Robin's smile quickly vanished when his eyes fell upon Carla and he realized what was about to happen. Letting out a whimper he tugged on his father's shirt and hid his face on it.

"Awh," Judy cooed as she approached the bed and looked up at Robin, "You don't have to be afraid, little guy. This isn't going to hurt, and you'll feel better in no time."

Robin raised an eyebrow and looked down at Judy, finding her smile to be comforting. Rick caressed his head and ruffled his tuft of hair.

"Come on Robin, do you think that Robin Hood would be afraid to take an IV? Maybe he would be scared, but I'm sure he'd try to be as brave as possible because he knew that he needed to go through that to get better and be able to help more mammals that needed him."

Robin bit his lower lip as he slowly let his father go and took a deep breath. He looked down at Carla, who was approaching him and smiled as well. Robin gulped before nodding and pressed his back against the headboard of the bed, closing his eyes when the koala stood by his side. Rick gave a step back to give her more space.

"This isn't going to hurt. You can even sleep afterwards if that's what you want, just make sure not to move your arm, ok? And don't fold it either, that could misplace the needle. Now, could you please give me your arm, dear?" She said in a sweet voice as she reached out for the cub.

Robin pressed his arms against his chest in fear and gave an unsure look to his father, who nodded at him encouragingly.

"The sooner you let we start this, the soon it will be over, little Robin Hood." Rick shrugged. Nick and Judy nodded from behind him. With a sign, Robin gave in and relaxed his arms before stretching his right one out toward Carla.

"That's a nice cub." Carla smiled. "You can look away if you want, it makes it easier if you're afraid of needles."

Rick approached Robin from behind the headboard of the bed, reaching down to hold his son's chin and lifting his head so that they were looking at each other and the cub couldn't see the needle going into his vein. Rick began to hum a song that apparently soothed Robin as the little fox closed his eyes with a smile on his face and seemed to move his head following the rhythm that Rick was making.

Nick blinked in surprise, his expression becoming a confused one as he looked down from side to side, pondering. Why did that melody sound so familiar?

He was brought out of his deep thoughts by a loud whimper, and then he noticed that Carla was just fixing up a curative on Robin's arm, over the spot where the needle was attached. Once that was done, she moved on to settle the IV bag and the liquid began to slowly go down from the bag to Robin's arm. Checking it one last time to make sure everything was fine; she smiled and grabbed a clipboard.

"The IV has to run slowly to avoid nausea, so it may take a while. If it goes any faster it may cause Robin to throw up, and we have to avoid that at all costs when he's already dehydrated. He can sleep and drink water in the meantime, but I'd suggest waiting until it's done before giving him any food, unless he claims to be extremely hungry. Oh, and make sure he doesn't move that arm too much and in no situation should he fold it, as that'd break the needle and not going to lie, that would be painful." The koala read the paper on the clipboard and nodded. "Yeah, I think that's all. Once the IV is done, we just need to make some simple tests and then he's free to go home. Any questions?"

Rick walked from the spot he was standing on behind the headboard of the bed and went to Robin's side, rubbing his head and watching it as the little fox leaned into his touch. "No, I think we're going to be alright. Thank you so much."

Carla smiled. "No problem. If you need anything or if there's any problem, don't hesitate to call me, alright?"

Rick nodded, and with a smile, Carla turned around and walked from them. Rick then looked at Robin and smiled.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Robin shrugged and pouted in response, lying down as much as he could in his current condition and yawning. Rick chuckled and leaned down to kiss his son on the forehead.

"Yeah, try to get some rest, buddy. You'll feel much better when you wake up." By the time Rick was done with that sentence, Robin seemed to have dozed off already. Rick tried to keep a smile on his face knowing that Robin was getting the help he needed, but it was hard to seem happy when he saw his son on a hospital bed, attached to cables and surrounded by doctors. That situation made the cub seem so abandoned, so fragile, so… helpless.

Like Nick seemed to be when he was younger.

Lost in his thoughts, Rick was slightly startled when Judy and Nick approached him and the bunny laid a hand on his arm to comfort him as he gave a step back to give Robin more space, as though he felt like he was going to suffocate if there were too many mammals around him.

"He's going to be alright." Judy smiled. "We brought him just in time, he'll get better soon I'm sure!"

Rick's eyes were still darkened by worry and guilty, but the bunny's soothing words managed to make him smile at her. Nick folded his arms and rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed sigh in the process as he approached his brother and partner.

"Dad?" They heard a little voice call and they all looked down at the little fox on the bed, whom they thought to be sleeping. Robin blinked his eyes open and motioned with his hand for his father to come closer to him.

"What is it, Robin?" He said as he bent forward.

Robin looked down at his arm in fear before looking up at his father with big, scared eyes. "I want- Mr. Foxy." He whispered.

"He wants what?" Nick questioned as he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Foxy," Rick said as he turned to look at Nick, "It's an old stuffed toy of his, it helps him relax and calm down when he's stressed. But I'm sorry, buddy," He said as he turned back to his son, "Mr. Foxy is at home right now. As soon as your IV is over we can go home and you can give him a big hug!"

Robin rubbed his eyes and pouted, rolling to his side and clutching to the pillow with his small paws, letting out a tiny groan. Judy chuckled softly and approached the bed.

"I get you, little guy. I also have a bunny plushy that helps me sleep at night, his name is Whiskers. He's at my house right now, guarding my bed, just like I'm sure Mr. Foxy is guarding your bed right now."

Robin blinked his eyes and looked at Judy, smiling slightly. Her words seemed to calm him down as he smiled, but he still yawned with eyes open wild; a clear sign that he was tired but wasn't comfortable enough to sleep.

"I guess I underestimated just how much he needs that toy." Judy giggled with a shrug. Then her smile was replaced with an expression of concern as she looked up at Rick and glanced at Nick, who stood a few feet behind them. "You know, Rick, I could take you to your house and you get Mr. Foxy…" She took a deep breath and looked defiantly at Nick, expecting him to stand against her, "And while we're at it, you could take this opportunity to grab anything else you might need, you know, since you'll be crashing with me until Robin gets better."

Nick rolled his eyes slightly at the bunny, knowing that she was not willing to let him host Rick and Robin due to the doubts she had towards his intentions.

Rick looked at her with a smile, but his eyes suddenly widened when he realized that Nick was standing there and had heard what Judy said. He gasped and turned his head to look at his brother, expecting to find him with an angry or confused expression; but it caught him off guard to see Nick's calm expression as he approached them and laid a hand on Judy's shoulder.

"You know, Carrots; maybe I should take him there." He said, eyes locked on his brother even though he was talking to the bunny. "I still don't know where he lives… I would like to see that place." His voice sounded raspy, those words being said through his clenched teeth in an obvious attempt to fake a smile.

Rick gave a step back and tilted his head as Nick's words sank in. "Does that… I mean, so you're okay with me staying with Judy until Robin gets better?"

"Sure… Because of Robin. Not because of you." Nick said, this time loud and clear. Rick gulped at his brother's words, but didn't find anything to say in that situation. He looked from side to side and tried to come up with something, but Judy spoke up as she stepped forward and stood between the two foxes.

"Nick…" She said, looking up at him extremely mistrustful. What was that sly fox up to?

"Actually, Rick," Nick spoke up before Judy could continue, looking straight into Rick's eyes, "I'm not okay with the idea of you staying with Judy, and I can't pretend I am. I'm against that and I'm sure you can imagine my reasons."

Judy swallowed the lump that was suddenly formed in her throat when she saw Rick's expression of despair.

"Nick, I swear, I understand what you mean but I just need a place t-" He rushed out, his ears folding back and his eyes getting watery.

"Hold on there," Nick interrupted, raising a paw and pushing Judy aside so that there was nothing standing between him and Rick when he stepped forward to be right in front of his brother as he poked his chest with each sentence he said, "I told you I do care for Robin- I mean, I care for every kid, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him and unfortunately that means I have to worry about you too since you're the one who takes care of him. But I do not trust you to stay with Judy, in fact I do not trust you _at all_."

Nick stopped after that sentence, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as his hands clenched into fists. Judy and Rick were left appalled, Rick's chest quickly going up and down as he carefully watched Nick and took in the words he said. Robin was laying down in bed, eyes glued on the floor, and it was hard to tell whether or not he was paying attention to what was being said around him. Nick stepped back and sighed before opening his eyes and looking into Rick's eyes again.

"Which is why you two are going to stay with me. So that I can keep a close eye on you and I can make sure you're actually taking good care of Robin, since, you know, my experience tells me you're not that good of a caretaker. Understood?"

Rick's mouth opened and he blinked in confusion, gulping when he finally wrapped his brain around what Nick was saying.

"Do… Do you really mean it?" He asked with his ears folded back, rubbing his hands together.

"I'm not the liar here, Rick." Nick folded his arms and glared at Rick, causing his older brother to shrink under his gaze. Judy frowned and was about to say something to Nick when he turned to her before she could do so. "Hey, Carrots, I guess you'll stay here with Robin while we go fetch the stuff, right? I mean, he can't stay alone here."

Judy frowned again. The idea of letting Nick and Rick alone did not play well on her mind, but Nick was right, Robin couldn't stay alone. "Are you sure you don't want me to take him there? I thought you'd rather stay with Robin." She said as Judy knew Nick would never do anything bad to Robin, but the same couldn't be said about Rick.

"It's fine." Nick shrugged. "It's just to grab some stuff anyway, and I think he'll need someone fox-sized to help him with that. So yeah, we should go now since Robin needs his Mr. Foxy." He smiled at cub, who still had an empty expression on his face, but nodded to agree with Nick's words.

Judy looked at Rick and sighed, but the fox smiled at her.

"I, I'm fine with that. You can stay here with Robin, if you don't mind. There isn't that much I need anyway, I'm sure we will be back in no time. If, if everyone's ok with that, I mean." He muttered, his voice rather low.

"Fine by me." Nick rubbed his hands together. "What do you say, Carrots?"

"I, hum…" She looked back and forth to Nick and Rick before sighing. She did not want to scare Rick by acting defensive. "I guess that's fine. Just give me a call if something happens, or if you need my help." She said that sentence looking at Rick, as she was worried Nick might try to do something if the two of them were alone. An interrogatory was not something Rick needed in that moment, he had already too much to worry about considering Robin's condition.

"We, we will." Rick said. "But I'm sure everything's going to be just fine."

"Yeah, everything will be absolutely fine…" Nick said with a sly smile and low voice as he nodded toward the hospital door, motioning for Rick to follow him as he began walking.

Rick nodded and turned to Robin, who looked up from the floor for the first time in a while to look at his father as he ruffled the younger fox's tuft of fur.

"I'll be right back, ok? And when I'm back I'll have Mr. Foxy with me and you can give him a hug. Judy will stay here with you, so don't be afraid. And be a good boy, alright?"

Robin sighed, but nodded and sat up on the bed to be able to kiss his father on the cheek. Rick smiled at him and reached down to give him a hug, but before he could do so he was interrupted by Nick calling him from the door.

"Hey, you there, I was hoping to get this done today, do you mind?" Nick said as he held the door open with one paw and used the other one to point over his shoulder.

"Sorry, I'm coming!" Rick said as he began to walk backwards toward the door so that he was still looking at Robin as he waved goodbye. He waited for his son to wave back before turning around and running to the door where Nick was standing, shooting one last quick glance at the cub before disappearing through the door. Robin watched it as the door swung back and forth, getting slower and slower until it stopped completely – meaning his father was gone.

With a sigh Robin curled his tail around him and clutched the pillow, ears folding back and a small whimper escaping his lips. Judy put her hand over her chest and jumped up on the bed, grabbing the brim of a blanket and pulling it up until Robin was completely covered. The cub looked up at her and smiled, as in thanking her caring gesture.

"Your father will be right back," she said as she sat down on the bed and nodded, "No need to be afraid. Just try to get some rest."

Robin nodded back and closed his eyes, but he soon opened them when his ears shot up when they detected a noise – Judy's ringtone began sounding through the once peaceful room. He raised his head to look at her as she reached for her pocket and pulled out her phone, looking at the screen to see who it was. Chief Bogo's name could be read on the screen so Judy hastened to answer the call.

"Yes, chief?"

"Hopps, can you come to the ZPD now?" Bogo asked, apprehension clear on his voice. Judy's eyes widened, for she had never heard him so nervous.

"Hum, not exactly," she replied, "I'm watching over a kid right now. The father left with Nick and I can't leave him alone. Sorry, I have to stay."

Bogo sighed on the other side.

"Ok, ok, but I need you and officer Wilde to come to the ZPD as soon as you can, understood?" He demanded with authority.

"Oh, hum, sure, we'll be there as soon as we can!" Judy straightened herself up and took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. "I'll just wait for Nick to come back and then we go. What happened, chief?"

She could feel her blood freezing inside her body when he answered her question.

"There has been a murder."

* * *

 **Ok, how many of you saw _that_ coming?**


	14. Goodie

**It's almost 4am so I'm not reading this to look for mistakes now, my apologies. But enjoy this new chapter!**

* * *

The car ride to Rick's house was mostly silent; except for the quick directions that Rick gave Nick as he drove. The older of them thought of trying to start some kind of small conversation, but the idea died whenever her saw Nick's focused, unreadable expression that didn't seem to be interested in talking. He didn't even look directly at Rick the whole ride, having his eyes glued on the road; which made it seem like he was alone in the car.

Rick gulped and shrank on his seat, folding his arms.

"You can park here; I live right there." Rick informed as he pointed to the green house where he resided.

Nick parked as he analyzed the place, raising an eyebrow in surprise at how clean and tidy it looked – which was the complete opposite of what he expected it to be after seeing the patterns of the houses in that neighborhood. Still cynical, he opened his door and jumped out of the car, Rick following suit.

"Hum, thanks for bringing me here and offering to help, by the way." Rick thanked Nick as he jogged to get to his side, but Nick just huffed in return before speeding up again to leave his brother behind as they went toward the house.

Nick got there first and pushed the small gate open, not bothering to hold it for his brother as Rick thought he would do. Rick jumped back, startled, when the gate swung back and almost hit him. He cleaned his throat and opened the gate, seemingly trying to pretend that that hadn't happened.

The younger fox stood by the door of the house, arms folded and foot stomping in impatience as he waited for Rick to come and unlock it so that they could finally go in. He was anxious and expectant, wondering if there would be any clues about Rick's past or something like that inside.

"Hum, I'm just going to get Mr. Foxy, some clothes and some other stuff. There shouldn't be too many things I need to get." Rick smiled and opened the door, going inside the house and holding the door open for his brother.

Nick entered the house with the same unreadable face and skeptical aura around him that had been with him ever since he met Rick again. Rick stood still as Nick looked around and took in the surroundings.

"It's not anything fancy, but yeah, it's my home." Rick laughed under his breath, desperate to break the silence.

Nick bit his lower lip and nodded absent-mindedly. The house had that nice family-house atmosphere that they tried to convey in commercials. It was tidily organized, except for a few kid's toys scattered around the floor here and there for which Robin was certainly to blame; and it had a faint smell of pine tree on the floor and walls. The furniture was rather simple, a couch and a closet with drawers were all that there was in the living room; which ended in a balcony that separated it from the small kitchen. Nick looked aside, seeing a door that lead to a room.

"So, hum…" Rick babbled, putting his hands together. "I will-"

"Go get whatever you need to get," Nick interrupted. "I'll be there in a second to help you; I just need to get some water… If that's ok with you."

"Oh, hum, of course it's okay. Make yourself at home. You can even wait on the couch if you prefer, I'll be back in a second." Rick smiled and Nick smiled back at him with a nod, turning his back on Rick and walking toward the kitchen.

However, as soon as he heard Rick entering the room he stopped in his tracks. Looking back to make sure Rick wasn't there, Nick hasted to the closet; walking on the softest part of his paws so that his steps were as silent as possible.

The up closets had nothing but mugs and plates, a few lost pens and stuff that seemed to be there just because there was no better place to keep them, like sewing supplies and duct tape. Nothing that interested Nick in the slightest. He groaned as he closed the closets he had examined, making sure that they were just like they were before he checked them, and went on to open the drawers.

The first one had just old receipts, a list of phone numbers and some addresses (seriously, hadn't Rick ever heard of smartphones? Who still wrote stuff down?) and envelops of paid bills. The second one wasn't much more useful, containing only a bowl with keys and pieces of what seemed to be broken toys. Nick was low on faith when he opened the third and last one, but his search became worth it when he saw that that drawer had several pictures in it.

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Rick was still in the room and hadn't come back yet, Nick grabbed all the pictures and held them in a pile to flip through them, hoping to find one that would be useful.

Most of them were pictures of Robin as a baby or toddler, and in none of them there was a motherly figure of any kind. Even in the ones that he appeared to be a newborn baby, always Rick was the one who held him. Nick frowned as he quickly hid one picture of baby Robin being held by Rick in the pocket of his jacket, unsure of why he wanted to keep that.

Then there were pictures of Zootopia, but those showed nothing special. A bus stop, an alley, a park and other locations. Nick wondered why Rick would take and keep those pictures; there didn't seem to be anything worth photographing in them.

 _Gosh, I hope he isn't one of those mammals that have weird hobbies they're obsessed with,_ Nick thought and shuddered. He thought that looking through the pictures had been another waste of time until he got to the last one.

His eyes widened as his head tilted to the side. He put the other pictures back in the drawer so that he could analyze that one better.

The picture seemed to have been taken in a very old pub whose hygiene would make a cockroach shiver in disgust, a faint old yellow lamp hanging from the ceiling was the only source of light that room had – and all the loose wires hanging off from it were a fire waiting to happen. At the center of the picture, there was a pool table, and Rick was in the corner of the picture, leaning against a wall; and he wasn't looking at the camera. In fact, it seemed that he didn't even know someone was photographing him when the picture was taken as he had a sad, distant expression.

Around the table, there were several mammals; playing snooker, smoking and drinking. Oddly enough, none of them was smiling. In fact, nobody in that room seemed to have ever experienced happiness in their lives before judging by their angry frowns and unfriendly scars some of them sported on their bodies. There was even a raccoon that had such a huge scar over his eye that it was closed, as if he couldn't open it anymore.

Nick tried to figure how old Rick was in that picture, he seemed to be around twenty-five or so – which would mean Robin hadn't been born yet. Nick decided to see what it was Rick was looking at in the picture when his eyes caught something he hadn't noticed before: behind the scarred raccoon, almost too dark to be seem, stood a vixen.

Nick squinted trying to see her features, but he couldn't see anything but the fact that it was a vixen as she stood in the dark and too far from the camera. He cursed under his breath before he hid that picture in his pocket as well. It didn't provide him any direct answers, but it still could be useful in the future. He had to ask Finnick if he knew where that pub was; he knew all those places in Zootopia.

Slowly closing the drawer to make sure Rick wouldn't know he was snooping around, Nick turned and went to the bedroom as if nothing had happened.

Rick had his back on the door so he didn't see it when Nick went in, which gave Nick the opportunity to look around. The room was small, with a single bed against a wall and a desk against the wall across it. There was a shelf above the bed with books and sheets of paper. Nick glanced at the desk, wishing he could check that.

"Oh, hey Nick." Rick smiled as he turned around and saw his younger brother standing there. Nick snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Rick, checking to see what he had gotten so far. "I'm almost ready here."

He was stacking stuff on the bed – a book, an old orange fox plushy toy and a plastic bag with some clothes.

"That seems like too little stuff to take with you… Isn't there anything else you need?" Nick smiled smugly, acting as natural as possible, as he walked to the desk. "Anything I can help you get?"

Nick's eyes quickly scanned the desk, checking everything that was there. However, just like the closet, it had proven to be mostly useless – there were only drawings and more books there. He laid his hand over the handle of the drawer, resisting the urge to pull it open and check what was inside.

"No, I do think that's all we're going to need." He nodded and grabbed his stuff from the bed, smiling at Nick.

"That… seems like it may not be all." Nick tilted his head. "Hum, what about Robin's school books? Doesn't he have any?"

Nick raised an eyebrow when Rick's eyes widened.

"He, hum, he doesn't attend school yet." He muttered, looking down.

"Oh, really?" Nick faked innocence, secretly happy to find that new information. What would Judy think of that? "He should, you know, he's five; and that would give you some more free time and-"

"I don't think he'd like that. He's shy." Rick cut him off, coming out ruder than he thought he would. Nick noticed how his smile disappeared before he put it back on his face; clearly struggling to look fine now.

"Maybe he's shy because he's never interacted with any other kids. Maybe taking him to school would help him fix that. He's five and barely even speaks, that's not really healthy, because-"

"There's _nothing_ wrong with him!" Rick said in an outburst, clenching his hands into fists and throwing the things he held back onto the bed. Nick was taken aback, jumping a step behind and gasping.

They stood still looking at each other while what had just happened sank in. Rick showed off his bare teeth, his lips quivering as if he was growling, but made no sound. It was as if a switch went off when he realized what he had done, changing his features to an appalled in a matter of seconds. He began shaking and heavy breathing, his chest going up and down in uneven moves.

Nick raised an eyebrow, smoothing out his clothes and cleaning his throat. "Wow, I just made a question man, no need to get all worked up on that…"

"S-Sorry," Rick said, trying to catch his breath, "Look," He sighed, "Robin's a special kid. He needs to be fine – I need him to be fine, Nick; and to keep him safe there are things he can't do and things I must do for him. It's for his own good. I can't let anything harm him; I… I need to protect him."

Nick tried to make any sense out of Rick's words, but none of that matched any normal scenario he came up with in his mind. Nick nodded in false understanding, pretending to be fine with that, but wondering how Judy would react once he told her that. Maybe then her attitude toward his brother would change.

After all, what kind of parent doesn't take their kid to school "to keep them safe"? Not even Carrots could come up with an excuse for that. There was something going on there.

"It's ok, I'm sorry. Your kid, you know what's best for him." He held out his hands and shrugged, smiling. Nick then approached the bed and grabbed some of the stuff. "Is that all you need?" Rick still seemed to be scared and shaking as he nodded. "Okay then, let's go. You don't want to keep Robin waiting much longer."

Nick acted as naturally as possible, confusing Rick who still struggled to get his act together. After a deep breath, he shook his head and grabbed what remained on the bed and followed Nick, trying to act natural as well while Nick walked ahead of him.

Unbeknown to Rick, his younger brother held a satisfied smugly smile on his face.

 _Gotcha._

* * *

 _A deadly silence surrounded the two foxes in that hospital room, as they seemed to look everywhere but to each other. Rick pretended to be extremely entertained by a pen he was fidgeting with and Lydia seemed to be lost in thought, staring blankly at nothing in particular._

 _Rick glanced at her to make sure she wasn't paying attention to him before he began eyeing her out of the corner of his green eyes, finally allowing himself to think through the thoughts that were fighting to make their way into his mind but that he had been dodging ever since they got to the hospital._

 _It had been two weeks since she gave him the news, and it was amazing just how much her pregnancy had evolved in such short time. Two weeks before Rick never would have guessed she was pregnant; and now she sported a much bigger belly that could be seen even when she wore baggy clothes._

 _Only four more weeks, and their baby would be born. The baby Rick would never see growing._

 _"You can leave if you want, you know," She muttered, snapping Rick out of his thoughts as he shook his head and looked up at her, "I'll just pass along any news."_

 _"Hum, no, it's ok. I'd like to stay. If that's ok with you." He replied, putting the pen he had been playing with aside and looking at her with a smile. She just shrugged in response, which made him sigh. She shrugged a lot whenever the question had to do with her pregnancy._

 _They found themselves in a white, rather cold room. Lydia lay on a bed that was situated beside some machinery that, Rick thought, seemed to have come from a futuristic movie: a TV screen, flashlight-like devices, some small panels and several buttons; while Rick sat right by her side on a chair that was usually reserved for the husband when couples went to check how their baby was doing. He couldn't help but think of how they were probably the only mammals that had entered that room without being in pure joy and happiness; but in despair and confusion instead._

 _He was about to say something else when a door was open and they turned their heads simultaneously; their eyes being met with those of a black sheep dressed in white. She held a wild smile on her face and Rick couldn't help but think that she had the aura like that of the stereotypical nice fairy from kids' books; joyful and jumpy and smiley. If she had a pair of wings, she could play the part perfectly._

 _"Hey there, sorry to leave you waiting here, you know how crazy things can get in a hospital," She giggled with her sheep voice cracking, and had such a positive energy that Rick couldn't help but smile in return despite his troubled state of mind. The sheep looked down at some papers she was holding while she approached the bed where Lydia was laying on. "I'm Doctor Melody, but just Melody is fine. And you two are Lydia and Richard Wild, right?"_

 _Both foxes nodded, their serious expressions didn't seem to affect her cheerful mood at all._

 _"Ok, then!" She quipped as she sat down on a chair that was across Rick's; in a spot that allowed her to have easy access to the machinery and to Lydia. She grabbed a clipboard and a pen, adjusting the glasses on her face that seemed to be a little too big as they kept sliding down her muzzle no matter how many times she pushed them back; but that didn't seem to bother her. It felt like nothing could bother her. "I just need to ask you some questions and then we can start the exam; is that ok, darling?"_

 _Lydia let out a loud breath as she nodded and shrugged - again. Melody seemed to be taken aback by the vixen's lack of enthusiasm, but that didn't keep her from smiling again in mere seconds._

 _"Okay, then. How long have you been pregnant for?"_

 _"Hum…" Lydia grunted as she tried to sit up on the bed, an easy task that was made hard by the extra weight she was carrying. "It's been four weeks since I found out; can't be sure if that's completely accurate though. Might be a couple days off."_

 _"Oh, that's fine, darling." Melody smiled as she wrote something down. "Ok, so four weeks more or less… Got it. Now for the second question, how have you been feeling? More specifically, any stomach-related pains or weird behaviors?"_

 _"Morning sickness basically every day, and I'm not currently able to eat much because the baby won't let the food stay inside of me, and I can feel it burning sometimes. Yeah, that's basically it."_

 _"No weird cravings?"_

 _"Not really, unless you count eating way more than I did before."_

 _"Oh, nothing out of the normality then, that's good." Melody nodded and wrote something down again before nudging Lydia's arm, "I'll let you know, when I had my first kid I had such trouble eating that I had to take IVs to avoid being malnourished. Because babies may be cute, but boy do they take away all of your nutrients for themselves." She nodded in understanding and giggled._

 _Lydia forced a smile and pretended to be enjoying the doctor's enthusiasm. After taking another note she put her clipboard down and opened a drawer, picking up a flashlight-like device and a bottle of a gel-like liquid that Rick had never seen before._

 _"The ultrasound is a very simple and safe procedure," The sheep explained as she opened the bottle she had gotten, "I'll just pour some of this onto your belly to make it slippery and run this thing over it. The images will come up on that screen and we'll be able to check how it's going. Are you ready?"_

 _Lydia nodded and lifted her shirt, exposing her swollen stomach. While the doctor poured the gel onto her belly, Rick's heart began pounding inside his chest in anticipation. Soon the sheep held the flashlight thingy and slid it over the vixen's stomach following the trail the gel had formed there, and in a few minutes a blue, blurry image came up on the screen and he held his breath._

 _"Ok…" Melody adjusted her glasses again. "Everything looks just fine for four weeks. Hum, it does look a little smaller than the usual fox fetus, but as of now that should be nothing to worry about. I guess you two are having a small cub, that's so cute!" Once again the sheep squeaked._

 _Lydia rolled her eyes, but Rick smiled and giggled under his breath._

 _"Alright, so," The sheep froze the image that was on the screen and grabbed a pen, which she used to point to the things she was talking about. "These two triangle spots here are the ears, and this line here, that's your baby's tail. Awh, it's curled up around the body; some old mammals say that if a baby does that when it's in the womb it's going to do that for the rest of its life as a habit. Let me know if it's true when it's born." She chuckled. "Here's the head, but it's not completely developed yet. It should be in two weeks, so I want you to come back here then so we can check it. Oh, would you like to know the sex?"_

 _"Uh…" Rick looked at Lydia and the vixen shrugged, as in telling him that she'd be fine with whatever he said. "S-Sure."_

 _"You two are having a baby boy, congratulations!" Melody smiled and put her paws together, clapping them in excitement._

 _"A boy…" Rick whispered, breathless and with a smile._

 _Melody was so excited it was almost as if she was the mother to be in the room. "What about the baby's heartbeat? Would you like to hear that?"_

 _"Yes!" Rick blurted out, for the first time not bothering to check what Lydia's opinion was. If he had been paying attention, he would have seen the vixen had a painful expression on her face._

 _"Great!" Melody said in a high-pitched voice as she pressed a few buttons. The room was silent again for a few seconds, but that didn't last long. Soon enough, the slow, constant sound of a heart beating filled the room. Rick smiled wild and took a deep breath, feeling tears forming in the corner of his eyes._

 _That was the heart of his baby, his son. He didn't even exist yet, but Rick could already hear his heart. He felt the need to hold him, hug him, feel that little heart against his own; but he wasn't there yet. It was mind blowing, yet beautiful._

 _Melody was so delighted that she didn't seem to notice that Lydia's tears did not come from happiness like Rick's. The vixen wiped them away before Rick could see she was crying too and faked indifference._

 _"Now, if you two wait here, I'll go get a picture printed for you. I'll be right back!" She practically sang in joy as she jumped out of her seat and left the room, leaving the soon-to-be parents alone, in yet another awkward moment._

 _They hadn't really spoken that much ever since Lydia told Rick she was pregnant; there was so much he wanted to ask but didn't know how or even if he should. He silently watched it as she wiped away the gel on her belly with her hand and pulled down her shirt over her stomach._

 _"Hum, how have you been?" He finally managed to speak up._

 _"Like I told her, awful. This baby sure likes to kick, twist, and turn. It's like a circus in there if I'm being completely honest." She huffed._

 _"I, hum, I'm sorry. You know that I'll be there if you need anything, right?" He raised his hand and was about to lay it over hers, but his eyes widened and he withdrew his hand as he blushed when he realized what he was going to do. If Lydia noticed that, she didn't give him any signs._

 _"If only you could make time pass by faster," She shrugged and sighed, chuckling lightly, "That's a help I'd appreciate."_

 _"It'll be over before you know it, I promise." He smiled at her. "Just know I'll be up to help anytime, with anything. I just don't want this to be harder for you than it needs to be."_

 _"Thanks." She said quickly and sighed. "Rick, I already began filling up the papers to give up my parental rights. If we're lucky by the time this baby is born it'll already have a family to go to."_

 _"Wait, what? Really? Is it… That simple?" Rick sputtered in shock. Sure, he knew that baby would be going for adoption and that he'd never had any contact with it, but he didn't think that would happen so soon. He thought they'd have a couple of days before it was taken from them. Although he couldn't really tell why, that thought made him extremely sad._

 _"Yeah, who knew, right? But that's a good thing; the younger a kid is, the easier for it to be adopted. And I think you may have to sign something too, but only if you show up when it's being born, since, you know, most mothers who give up their children are single and stuff. So, you don't even need to come, it will be easier for you."_

 _"But… That would mean not being around when you give birth. I… I wouldn't even get to see the baby."_

 _She sighed again._

 _"Maybe it's better like that, Rick. Never see it, don't get attached to it. I just… Don't want you to get hurt." She muttered under her breath and looked down, biting her lower lip and folding her arms. Rick raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask, she shook her head and took a deep breath, looking at him in the eye. "You have the choice not to show up when it comes, I don't."_

 _Without another word, the vixen stood up from the chair and smoothed her clothes, stretching her arms and legs and going to the door. Rick tilted his head and stood up as well._

 _"Where are you going?"_

 _"Away." She answered. "I just came here to see if everything was going well, now I know it is. So, if I don't need to stay any longer, I won't stay any longer." With a shrug, she turned around and opened the door._

 _"Okay, but…"_

 _"I'll be ok, I'll call you if anything happens, I'll let you know when I come here again. I know, I know. I will, I promise." With a last glance at him with what seemed to be a small smile on her face, she waved goodbye. "Bye, Goodie."_

 _He rolled his eyes at the nickname he hadn't heard in so long but could never forget, his mind and heart a mess of swarming emotions he couldn't sort out no matter how hard he tried. He could have stayed still there forever had Melody not returned and called for his attention._

 _"Hey, so, I have the- Hum, where's Lydia?" Her face fell when she realized Rick was alone in the room. He put on a smile and turned to face the sheep._

 _"She, uh, had to go. That's good, hum, I don't want her to stay out too long."_

 _"Oh, sure, sure. Just, before you leave: remember to make sure she drinks many liquids and rests as much as she needs. Also, no junk food until the baby comes, alright? Your cub may be healthy, but it's still small. The smaller the cub, the more fragile the health. And if you have any doubts, just call me, ok?" She said as she gave him a small card with her number and name._

 _Rick took the card from her and read it over and over again in his head, wondering if he would ever need to call the sheep. Lydia would probably be mad if he did, but he did want to know everything he needed to in order to make sure his baby would be all right._

 _"Thank you, that's very kind of you." He nodded and turned to leave the room when she called him again._

 _"Wait, Richard," She showed him an envelope, which he took from her and looked at it in confusion, "It's an ultrasonic screenshot, the baby's very first picture! I thought you and your wife might like to keep a copy."_

 _"She's not my-" He shook his head and looked down, deciding to conceal that information. He quickly put on a smile and thanked the sheep for everything before waving goodbye and leaving the room at last, finally leaving the hospital._

 _Once he walked out the hospital, he stood still and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and just taking a moment to take in the several sounds and smells of the city around him. He liked to do that, it calmed him down._

 _After sighing and shaking his head he opened his eyes again and began walking, meaning to go home; but then he remembered about the envelope the sheep had given him – which he had shoved down his pocket in the hurry to just leave that room. He took it up from there and just stared at it, wondering if he should throw it away. Why would he want to keep that picture anyway?_

 _Against all his instincts, Rick opened the envelope and took the picture inside, staring at it in awe. He put his finger over the little ears and then ran it over the S-shaped smudge that was his son's tail, curled up around his tiny body. Looking aside toward a trash can, Rick shook his head and carefully put the picture back in his pocket, finally walking home._

* * *

 **Feels so great to upload something again. I haven't updated a fic in forever.  
**

 **I was going to have a Nick/Judy part in this but it felt too long and like it didn't belong here. I'll leave that for the next chapter.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review if you feel like it, thanks for reading. See yah next chapter!**


	15. Crime

**Warning: Mild bloody descriptions.**

* * *

"You can leave your stuff in the car. We'll take it all out later when we take Robin and you to my apartment; it'll be easier that way." Nick told Rick as he parked the police car in front of the hospital and jumped out of it. Rick nodded and made sure all of his things were neatly seated on the back seat before getting out of the car and following his brother with Robin's stuffed toy in his hand.

They walked side by side in silence up to when they entered the hospital, when Rick had finally built up enough courage inside of him to try to say something.

"Hey, hum, Nick?"

Nick looked at him to let Rick know that he was listening; yet his face held no readable expression.

"I just, uh, wanted to thank you. You know, for taking me there and for inviting Robin and I to stay with you until he gets better. It, it really does mean a lot to me that you want to do that and I promise I'll help you with anything you might need." He smiled and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Don't mention it." Nick replied dryly and took a quiet deep breath before adding, "I just thought that this family has had its fair share of asshats."

Rick's eyes widened and he stopped walking due to shame, and with his ears folded back and eyes looking down, he decided not to say anything else. Nick almost felt bad for what he said when he realized how mean the words sounded once they had left his mouth and when he noticed Rick's reaction; but he just shook his head and took a deep breath, telling himself that saying that was nothing compared to what Rick had done to him.

It wasn't long until they got to the infirmary. Judy was sitting on Robin's bed, with her legs swinging back and forth in anxiety and hand on her chin. She lifted her head and her ears shot up when she heard the door opening, and less than a second later, she was standing in front of the two foxes after running quickly toward them.

"Whoa, what's got into you, Carrots?" Nick asked, holding out his hands.

"Nick, thank Heavens you're here! We have to go to the ZPD right now! Chief Bogo called, they need us there immediately!"

"What? But why?"

"I'll tell you in our way there, now come on! There's no time to waste!" She grabbed Nick's hand and gave a step toward the door, almost pulling the fox down to the floor; before turning to Rick, "Oh, Robin's not done yet. You two wait here, we'll come back as soon as possible. Call me if anything happens. See you soon!"

"Bye…" Rick said weakly, still processing what the bunny had said. Nick barely had time to regain his balance when Judy pulled him again, this time taking him out of the infirmary and into the corridor.

Rick stood still by the doorway for a moment, watching as the door swung back and forth several times until it stopped. He shook his head and shrugged, finally turning to go toward Robin's bed. The cub seemed to be sleeping, but his eyes opened as soon as he felt the bed dipping on his side and he smiled when he saw his father sitting there.

"Hi there, Robin." He greeted, caressing Robin's head. Robin smiled and leaned into his father's touch, letting out an excited whimper when he saw the toy in his father's lap. He smiled and pointed to it, reaching out and grasping the air in his hands.

Rick giggled and teased Robin by waving the toy above him but out of the young fox's reach as he tried to grab it. After a few failed tries, Robin pouted and folded his arms over his chest, frowning. Rick couldn't help but laugh again before finally lowering the stuffed animal and letting Robin get it.

"Fine, fine; here you go." He said, watching as Robin's pout became a wild smile when he got to hug Mr. Foxy, burying his head in the soft plushy toy.

* * *

"A murder?" Nick exclaimed when they walked into the ZPD side by side.

"It's what he said." Judy said, voice low and muzzle twitching in expectation as they approached Clawhauser, who was sitting by his desk with a bottle of soda in his paw that he put down when he realized Nick and Judy where coming toward him.

"Oh, hi there, you two." He greeted, smile on his face. "Anything I can help you wi-?"

"Where's Chief Bogo?" Judy abruptly cut him short, standing at the tip of her toes and leaning on the desk. "He said he needed us, it's an emergency!"

"Oh, hum," Clawhauser let out a yelp at Judy's explosion, "I believe he went to the back lab, he was talking to Dr. Hofstadter last time I saw him and-"

"Thank you! Let's go Nick, quick!" Judy exclaimed, interrupting Clawhauser again and taking Nick's hand, once more pulling the fox with her as she ran toward the hall and Nick struggled not to fall as he tried to keep up with the rabbit's speed.

"Hum, you're welcome." Clawhauser muttered as Judy and Nick got out of his sight.

* * *

The lab was a cold, dark room with an awful putrid smell. It was full of special drawers containing deceased bodies and conserved body parts that awaited to be examined; most of them belonging to unidentified victims or defeated criminals. Despite it being clean and well organized, it still felt like a cemetery to Judy and Nick when they slowly opened the door and walked into the room.

It wasn't long until they spotted Bogo a few feet ahead, standing next to a metal table with his hand on his chin and a concerned expression. A female weasel known for being sharp-tongued and rather cold-blooded, Dr. Hofstadter, stood next to him with another smaller table full of tools by her side.

Over the metal table there was a bundle covered by a white sheet, which the doctor would hold up, stare at what was underneath it, let the sheet go and write something down on a clipboard. It wasn't a mystery that that bundle was a body she examined.

Judy and Nick glanced at each other, the two of them immediately knowing that the other was as nervous and as scared as they were before they took a deep breath and approached their boss.

"Hello, chief Bogo." Judy greeted. Bogo turned and looked down at her and Nick, while Dr. Hofstadter kept analyzing the body as if nothing was happening around her.

"Wilde, Hopps." He greeted, a relieved breath coming out with his words. "I'm glad you're here."

"We came as soon as possible, sir." Judy said as she straightened herself up and took her hand to her forehead, Nick doing the same. They kept their position until Bogo nodded in approval. "So, what's happening here?"

Dr. Hofstadter pushed her glasses up her muzzle before looking at the clipboard in her hands to answer the rabbit before Bogo could say anything.

"Raccoon, male, seems to be in his late 40's but considering how he smells like an ashtray he may be younger than that and just look older due to all the smoking. He smells of alcohol as well, but considering how his liver seems just fine I don't think he drank enough to affect his health. Some of his teeth are missing but he definitely lost them long before his death; the cause of which being shock and cerebral hemorrhage due to a hematoma in the occiput that was caused by some external force. Considering the shape and depth of the injury my guess is crowbar or a metal piece of some sort; maybe some old car part. Whatever it was that hit him, it wasn't an accident. Whoever it was had clear intentions to hurt him." The weasel replied, her eyes never looking away from the body. She spoke rather fast and emotionless, which always caught those around her off-guard.

"Uh, thank you." Nick replied once her words had sunk in.

"There hadn't been a murder in a while now," Bogo explained, "It'd been months since the last one. And all the ones we did have were either of criminals or of well-endowed mammals that were victims of said criminals." He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at Nick and Judy. "The reason why I called you two is because this mammal does not fit any of those categories."

"What do you mean?" Judy inquired, her ears twitching as she listened to him carefully.

"He was neither a known criminal nor had he anything worth stealing. The reason why anyone would want to murder him is a mystery, and it could be entwined with something much bigger." He replied, voice deep and concerned.

Nick shivered. "Where did they find his body?"

"We received an anonymous call complaining about an awful smell coming from an alley in Brittle Street, district Rain Forest. Our cops went to investigate and there he was. No ID, no documents, nothing that could lead us to any clue about his identity – and none of the neighbors who we asked claimed to know anything about him either, not anything good or bad. But his clothes and bad self-care leave no doubt about his poor financial status. Our best shot is that they killed him in a reckoning."

"Reckoning?" Judy asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It's a hit-and-run crime committed because the victim owed money or knew too much," Nick explained to her, and the bunny had to control herself not to ask how Nick knew that as he continued, "Which is quite possible. But chief, Brittle Street is full of criminals and low-life mammals. How can you know he just wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"That is unlikely." They all turned their heads to the weasel as Dr. Hofstadter blurted out her words, once again never looking away from her work while she answered their question. One would think she wasn't even listening to what was being said around her.

She straightened her coat and reached for a magnifying glass before continuing her answer.

"The occiput was hit more than once. The skull wasn't just broken, it was shattered. He was passed out in the moment he died, so the attackers didn't leave him alone once he lost consciousness. It's a sign that they wanted to make sure this guy here was doubtlessly dead. It was no 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe'; someone wanted this specific raccoon gone."

"That's awful…" Judy muttered. "Do we have any clue as to who could have done this? Any suspects?"

Bogo shrugged. "All we found was wolf, fox and polar bear fur on his body and clothes, but the DNA in them does not match with any of those of criminals in our database."

"Got it." Judy muttered again, hopelessness could be heard in her voice. "Well, I guess it is a start, at least." She turned to Nick. "I think we should go to Brittle Street and check out the place where they-"

"Wait up," Dr. Hofstadter said, holding up a finger and walking around the table to approach the cops, for the first time making eye contact with them, "As awful as this death was, that's not all. There are a few more… details to be taken into consideration before you go investigating."

"Like what?" Nick tilted his head to the side.

Without saying a word, Dr. Hofstadter took a step back and reached behind her, where the table was, and grabbed one of the corners of the sheet before carefully yanking it away from the body.

The little breath Judy and Nick had left in their lungs was gone once they laid eyes on the corpse. Their hearts began beating faster as they couldn't help jumping back in shock. Judy took her hand to her mouth as she gasped, tears walling up in her eyes in horror.

The raccoon was disfigured beyond belief. Half of his face's skin was missing; all that was left of it was a red mess of darkening flesh as blood ran down what was left of his ear, strings of meat hanging from where once his eye was. His right arm was twisted in an physically impossible angle, two of his fingers were undoubtedly broken as they were pointing to the opposite direction that they should be pointing to.

His neck had been twisted and injured but it didn't seem broken. Still, a red and open wound surrounded it like a bloody collar, exposing his jugular veins. The torn skin around the wound was irregular and messy, as if it had been roughly cut with some kind of blind knife. His left foot was swollen and had a sickening purple and green hematoma over it.

As if those awful and huge injuries weren't bad enough, the raccoon's old clothes were torn and dirty and his entire body was covered in smaller cuts and holes that resembled the bites of a wild animal.

"Oh, my god," Judy cried out, voice cracking, "What did they do to him?"

Dr. Hofstadter seemed unfazed by that view of cruelty, replying Judy's question as if she had asked her what time it was. "It was a physical fight. No guns, no weapons; aside from what was used to smash his skull. All of these other injuries were caused either by teeth, hands or claws. I can tell that this guy tried to fight, but he did not stand a single chance. The adrenaline levels in his blood were still high on the moment of the death, which means the conflict had barely started when he actually died."

Nick stood still, petrified, looking down at the raccoon with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"I had never seen anything like this before." Nick gulped. He could feel his breakfast coming up his throat but swallowed it back down and tried to ignore the burning feeling in the back of his throat as the rammish features of the body made their way into his nose. He scrutinized the raccoon from head to toe in hopes to dismiss his shock, but the atrocity of that crime had been so appalling that his efforts proved to be useless.

"It really is an awful crime, and we have little to no clue." Bogo heaved. "Which is why I wanted you two on the case – if there's anyone who can solve this mystery, that's you two."

Judy smiled weakly, her cheeks twitching. "Thanks, Bogo. We'll do our best."

Nick continued to stare at the raccoon while Judy and Bogo spoke, feeling like he had seen him before despite not being friends with any raccoon. His eyes wandered up to his face, and he gagged once again when he saw the bloody mess of tissue and meat where his face should be. The other half of his face, however, had barely been touched. It just made it even creepier to look at, as if he was wearing half of a red mask.

Suddenly realization hit Nick. His eyes widened and he gasped, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Nick, what's wrong?" Judy asked, but he did not reply as he was searching his pockets frantically. Nick didn't stop until he found what he was looking for, the picture that he had taken with him from Rick's house.

Once he had it in his hands he looked back and forth between the body and the picture as his brain connected the things he was seeing, working on whether or not they would match. And they did.

The raccoon lying on the table had a huge scar over his eye. Nick froze as he breathed harshly; Bogo, Judy and Hofstadter still confused and looking at him. Judy raised an eyebrow and approached Nick, laying her hand on his arm.

"Nick, what's wrong?" She insisted.

He slowly handed her the picture. She took it from his hands and seemed confused before her eyes widened in realization and she looked at the raccoon again.

"It's him!" Her ears shot up. "That's a clue! Nick, where did you find this picture?"

"I found it in Rick's house." He smiled smugly, folding his arms over his chest. "I guess we already know who we're going to interrogate next."

* * *

 **Next chapter will be long, so it may take a while for me to update. But I hope you enjoyed this one!**

 **Credits: Dr. Hofstadter and all the descriptions used here were provided by my aunt. She's a forensic doctor and I asked her for help. I also asked which animal she wanted to be if I put her in here and she said weasel. I was also inspired by the Sylvia Likens case after watching 'An american crime.'**

 **Thank you for reading, see you next chapter! Leave a review if you feel like it ^^**


	16. Matching colors

**Long chapter for once. I feel like it's a little lacking in regards of details, but I just wanted to move the story along. Hope you like it!**

* * *

Rick immediately knew something wasn't right when Nick and Judy walked back into the infirmary from the ZPD. They both walked upright, with serious expressions and their hands clenched in fists, much like soldiers walking into the battlefield. Robin was on his father's lap as the IV was now done, and he clutched Mr. Foxy to his chest, shrinking at the sight of the serious, scary cops; his yellow eyes watching everything with fierce attention.

The orange fox watched them with a raised eyebrow and felt his heartbeat speeding up slightly despite his efforts to tell himself that everything was alright – something just told him it was not. Once the bunny and the other fox were standing in front of him, Judy sighed, but Nick had to keep himself from smiling smugly in a serious situation; none of them giving any greetings.

Judy's sigh and their weird behavior worsened Rick's state as he inquired, "Hum, anything wrong?"

Judy bit her lips, ears drooping over her back as she stepped forward and put her hands together.

"Rick, hum, well, you're now a witness to a case." She said after thinking to herself that it'd be better if she straight up said it.

The fox's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, concerned and surprised. Nobody seemed to hear the little yelp that escaped Robin's lips when he heard those, hands shaking with his knuckles turning white from clutching his toy so hard and ears folding back.

"What?" He hissed.

"We have a case in our hands that seems to be connected to you, bro-bro." Nick put his hands behind his back, swinging back and forth on his feet and speaking fiercely, "A murder, to be exact. Sorry, but now you need to go to the ZPD, answer some questions, give a testimony; the usual."

"A m- what?" Rick exclaimed, brows knitting together as he tightened the grip he had on Robin, "H- A murder? How in the world am I even connected to anything of the sort?"

"This!" Nick announced as if he had practiced for that moment when he took the picture out of his pocket and waved it in front of his brother's face. Now that it was a clue to the case it had been enveloped in a transparent plastic to keep it intact.

"Where did you get that?" Rick panted as he flung his arm toward the picture and tried to snatch it from Nick once he recognized it, but Nick took it out of his reach before he could, putting it back in his pocket. His smirk grew wider once he saw his brother's helpless expression.

"That's not important. It's a proof and thus it belongs to the ZPD now, and you can't have it back as of now." He proudly announced, folding his arms over his chest and nodding. Judy bit her lip and groaned under her breath, distressed by Nick's behavior. She approached Rick and slightly pushed Nick to the side, shooting him an angry glance before smiling up at Rick.

"Rick, the raccoon in the picture, the one with the scar over his eye; he was brutally murdered. We have no clue about who he was except this picture. We were hoping you could help us find more about him so that we can track the murderer and punish them for their act." She explained, voice as though she was calming a child who had just had a nightmare. "You just need to answer some questions, that's it."

Rick glanced down at Robin, taking his hand to the little fox's chin and lifting it so that they were eye to eye and looked at him for a while. Judy tilted her head to the side as she watched the scene.

"When do I have to go there?" He inquired, letting Robin's chin go. The cub turned his head to look at Judy and Nick, insecure; pleading in silence.

"Now." Nick demanded.

Judy nudged his side and shot him another angry glance before she took a deep breath and turned to Rick again.

"Hum, now would be a good time, yes. The earlier we get some more clues, the earlier we'll be able to catch who did that. Every second counts."

Judy's statement had Rick tightening his grip around Robin once more as the little fox shrank in his father's lap, one hand clutched his father's shirt and the other held his toy tightly.

"But what about Robin?"

"The ZPD will take care of that," Judy tried to calm him down, "He'll stay at a daycare, no charges, and you can go pick him up as soon as the questions are answered. He's going to be just fine."

Rick's heart shattered into a million pieces when Robin let out a whimper after the rabbit said what was going to happen and he looked up at his father, a pleading look on his face; almost as if he were saying 'Please, no'. Rick wanted to comply, but knew he had no other choice.

"Fine," He sighed, and remarkably, managed to smile, "I'm glad I may be able to help to solve your case."

Robin's lip quivered and he began shaking, his father caressed his head in a useless effort to calm him down.

"Great! I'm sure everything's going to be just fine. Let's just ask the doctor if there's anything more that needs to be done and then we can go. The faster we get this done, the faster you'll be free." Judy said, once more with the voice she would use to calm a kid down. Nick rolled his eyes and Rick nodded; standing up to follow the cops.

He felt Robin bury his head in his chest, and pressed a kiss to his son's forehead.

"Everything will be alright," He whispered into Robin's ear, "Daddy will be alright, I promise."

Robin didn't seem to have believed him.

* * *

Leaving Robin at the daycare made Rick want to throw up. It didn't matter how nice, tidy, friendly and clean the place was and how kind the mammals working there seemed to be, Rick still felt like he was abandoning his son or doing something awful. After several hugs, soft kisses to assure Robin that everything was okay and that he'd be back soon, Rick went to the ZPD with Nick and Judy in a rather quiet ride, except for Judy's words about how happy she was that he was willing to help them.

Not long after that, Rick found himself in a room at the ZPD, sitting on a table across chief Bogo – whose size and uniform brought bad memories he tried to ignore – while Judy and Nick stood behind their boss. After some polite greetings, Nick handed the picture to Bogo, who laid it on the table.

"So, Mr. Wilde, I believe Officer Wilde and Hopps have already explained why you're here." Bogo spoke in a deep, strong voice.

"Yes, sir." Rick replied, lip quivering.

"Do you understand that you can face legal consequences if you tell any lies about what I'll ask you now?"

"Yes. I'll answer it all correctly." Rick nodded and straightened himself up to look trustworthy.

"Good. Now," Bogo looked down at the picture and Rick followed his gaze, "This raccoon was murdered. We know nothing about him, but this picture shows that you seemed to know him. Or at least that you'd seen him before. What can you tell us about him?"

Rick took a deep breath and looked up, thoughtful.

"Not much," He shrugged and uttered, letting go of the air he held, "I know his name was Coy, he used to go to this… Uh, bar I used to go when I was a little younger. That's where that picture was taken. I didn't really talk to him, we just happened to be there at the same time sometimes. And sometimes we'd play cards together when nobody else was interested and did some small bets, but that's it."

Judy quickly took out her notebook and a pen from her pocket, writing down what the fox told them, but disappointed at how little information he'd given. Just a name wouldn't take them far in the case.

"Is that really all you know?" She pleaded, even if only Bogo was supposed to ask questions. However, the boss didn't protest it. "Remember that even a little detail can help us."

Nick bit his lower lip and frowned, watching his brother carefully so that he didn't miss anything about his body language.

"Well…" Rick looked up and pondered. "I don't know, hum, he was always covered in grease and oil so I think he worked at a mechanical workshop or something. I remember he didn't go to the bar drink, he used to say he wanted to be sober if he needed to remember something he screwed up or something like that... whatever he meant by that."

"Mechanical workshop, get it." Judy wrote down. "Well, to me he seems to be have been one of those old, grumpy man, is that correct?"

Rick nodded. "Pretty much."

"Do you know if he had any family?"

The fox shook his head. "If he did, he never mentioned them and I never saw them either."

"Okay, so he was probably alone, always dirty and spent some time in a bar smoking and playing." Judy's brain was now working like an engine, trying to fit in the pieces she had to form a puzzle in her head, "His routine was probably home, work, bar. If we can find a mechanical workshop near the street where he was killed, we may find the place where he worked. Oh, does this bar still exist? We need to check everywhere that can give us any kind of clue."

Rick's eyes widened at her question, and he looked back and forth to Nick and Judy. That caught Nick's attention.

"No," He uttered, lips quivering. "It's long gone. It went out of business years ago, and I didn't see Coy anymore after that. Again, we weren't friends; we just happened to like the same bar."

"Alright. Thank you so much, Rick, you helped a lot. We can ask people around the area if they knew this Coy. I'll ask Clawhauser to track all the car stores and mechanical workshop nearby the place where he was found dead. If he worked in any of them, there will be someone who'll give us some information. Come on, let's g-"

"Just a second." Bogo interrupted, standing up from his chair. "It's not over yet, Hopps. Mr. Wilde," He called, and both Nick and Rick looked at him, but he was talking to Rick, "We'll need to take a blood sample from you. Please, follow me to the lab."

Rick's eyebrows knitted together and he tilted his head to the side. He looked at Judy, hoping she would give him an explanation; but she looked just as confused.

"Blood sample? Why, sir?" She inquired.

"Mr. Wilde is no longer just a witness. He's now under the suspect category so we need a DNA sample." Bogo remained unfazed as the other three animals in the room gasped in confusion. "The fox fur found with the body of the victim matches Mr. Wilde's fur color."

* * *

 _Rick sat on the couch in his house in complete silence with the ultrasonic picture of his cub in his hands. It had been only three days since he went to the hospital with Lydia and he had already lost count of how many times he had looked at that picture._

 _Probably as many times as he had told himself he needed to throw that picture away._

 _With a heavy sigh, Rick let his shoulders droop before slamming his back against the back of the couch; his arms falling beside his body and his fingers slightly loosing up the tight grip they previously had on the picture. He stared at the ceiling absent-mindedly for a while before coming back to reality, holding the picture and staring at it once again; completely lost in thoughts._

 _At that point Rick had already memorized every single aspect and detail of the picture. He loved to look at the blue smudges and waves that merged together in an unorganized manner to form the shape of his to-be born baby, the small triangle shapes and the S-like smudge being his favorite things to look at; even if that picture made him sick._

 _It made him feel beyond uneasy to think that that baby was going to be born in a matter of days. It still felt unreal, as if it all were just a weird dream; but then the picture took all his doubts away – he was going to be a father. Sometimes his mind would even wander to the future and his stomach would twist and turn at the thought of what would happen with his son one, five or ten years after he was born. Nigh anything could happen to a child after someone else adopted them; and there was no way to know what surprises life would put in their way._

 _Just like there was no way to know what had happened to Nick after he went missing. He could be fine, he could be suffering, he could be dead, he could be being tortured by someone, somewhere. Rick would never know._

 _And it was all his fault._

 _A lonely tear ran down his cheek, like it always happened when he thought of his younger brother. However, Rick was so lost in thoughts and memories that he didn't even notice he had begun crying. The picture remained between his fingers and he held it carefully, as if damaging it would be harmful to the baby itself. He would have stayed like that for a lot longer had his phone not rung and brought him back to reality._

 _Blinking and shaking his head, Rick only then noticed his cheek was wet. He sniffled and wiped the tear away before reaching for his phone in his pocket. As he did so, he made sure to lay the picture carefully on the couch beside him._

 _The number calling him was an unknown number, but for some reason it seemed rather familiar. Raising an eyebrow, he swiped the green button on the screen and took his phone to his ear._

 _"Hello?"_

 _"Hello, Mr. Wilde?" Said a reedy yet calm voice._

 _"Hum, it's me. Who is it?" He asked as he tried to remember whose voice that was. He was sure he had heard it before._

 _"It's doctor Melody here. I'm calling you concerning your wife."_

 _"My w-?" He was confused for a second before realization hit him. "Oh, yeah, my wife… hum, sure?" Rick answered, trying to sound and feel as natural as possible._

 _"I want to know if you can come pick her up here. She said you were working and couldn't come and that she didn't mind going home alone, but I really don't want her to-"_

 _"Wait, wait, wait!" Rick interrupted the sheep as soon as her words sank in; his heart beating fast as he jumped up from the couch. "She's there right now? At the hospital? What's she doing there?"_

 _Melody blinked in confusion, startled at Rick's voice tone. "Hum, she came here around an hour ago, because she thought her water had broken, but-"_

 _"She did what?!" Rick interrupted again, this time he could hear his heart pounding inside his chest. His hands were shaking as he ran around his apartment to grab his keys and a jacket as he ran to the door, "I, I'm coming right now. Tell her to wait for me there, I'll be there in a second!"_

 _"Hum, ok, we'll be waiting-"_

 _Rick didn't wait for the sheep to finish her sentence, ending the call and slamming the door shut as he ran outside as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his feet as he went downstairs._

 _..._

 _Rick came barging into the hospital, breathing heavily and feeling his legs shaking after running faster than ever before. The pig at the reception almost jumped out of her seat in shock as Rick leaned on the counter and tried to catch his breath, but she quickly recovered and approached him._

 _"Sir, is everything alright?" She asked in concern._

 _"Lydia, uh, she's pregnant, I'm her, I'm her… husband." He sputtered his lie, his dry throat getting sore from speaking. "They told me she was here, I-"_

 _"Mr. Wilde?"_

 _Rick turned his head when he heard someone calling his name and saw Melody approaching him from the hall. He turned around to face her and ran to her, still breathing heavily and with his heart pounding inside his chest. Melody noticed his state and held up her hands to signify that everything was all right in hopes to help him calm down._

 _"Don't worry, Lydia is fine and so is your baby. You have nothing to worry about." She smiled at him and Rick lowered his head, leaning his hands on his knees, closing his eyes and sighing in relief. He could feel his stomach untwisting and his heart slowing down as he pinched the bridge of his muzzle with his hand; as if the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders. When he looked back up he saw Lydia leaving a room nearby coming toward them. She had her arms folded over her chest and looked down in indifference; her stomach even more swollen than it was the last time he had seen her._

 _Rick let out a heavy breath when he saw the vixen, running his hand over his head. He didn't know whether he felt relief or anger upon seeing her._

 _"Hi." Lydia muttered, almost inaudible._

 _Rick nodded in response. "What happened here?"_

 _Melody expected Lydia to answer her "husband", but when the vixen remained quiet she looked up at Rick and spoke up instead, slightly confused at the pair._

 _"Oh, she was feeling some severe pain and showed signs that the baby was coming, but she's merely experiencing Braxton Hicks," Melody said, and seeing as both foxes seemed confused at her statement, she continued, "It's a strong contraction that some mothers confuse with the real thing. Is it still hurting, darling?" She asked, turning to Lydia._

 _The vixen shook her head. "I'm alright now."_

 _"And the baby is fine, right?" Rick asked again._

 _"Everything is as it should be. But Lydia, you should not do that again. It was extremely dangerous not to call someone when you thought your water had broken. Even if Rick couldn't help when it happened, you should have let him know or called someone else."_

 _Rick looked at Lydia and frowned._

 _"He was working, and I thought it was just some pain. It didn't feel like it was worth bothering anyone." Lydia muttered._

 _"Don't be silly, L... Dear," Rick squinted, entering her subtext game, "I told you that you can call me anytime. Even if I were working."_

 _Lydia stuck her tongue out at him and rolled her eyes. Rick shook his head and sighed again before turning to a confused Melody. "So, hum, what now?"_

 _"Oh, well, Mrs. Wilde is fine to go home, but someone should keep an eye on her today and overnight. Is there anyone who can stay with you while Mr. Wilde is at work? Do you have any friends or family in town?"_

 _"I can stay with her, it's alright." Rick nodded. "I… I left the office earlier today when I heard of the emergency." He muttered, finding it increasingly hard to keep up the façade of being a normal, happy family._

 _Lydia glared at him and faked a smile; knowing that she couldn't let the doctor know their "happy family" aura was but a fraud._

 _"Oh, alright, that's great!" The sheep smiled. "But there should be nothing to worry about, it's just for precaution. Our exams showed that you're a little dehydrated so you should drink plenty of liquids and avoid any physical exhaustion; so, no running or exercising until the baby is actually here, alright?"_

 _Lydia nodded, dreading that moment that seemed to last forever. Rick sighed and put a hand over her shoulder._

 _"Thank you, doctor Melody." Rick said, slightly pushing Lydia beside him as he walked them both to the door; the sheep behind them happily waving goodbye._

 _As soon as they were out of the hospital, however, Lydia pushed Rick away from her and folded her arms over her chest again, looking down in discontent. It was obvious to Rick that she did not like it in the least that they had to stand together for the rest of the day, and that she wouldn't comply if her life wasn't at risk._

 _He didn't say anything, just sighed and nodded as they both slowly walked to his car._

 _…_

 _The ride to Rick's apartment was silent and awkward; and it wasn't until they were both in the living room that the silence was broken._

 _"You should have called me." Rick put forth as Lydia went in and walked across the living room, leaning on the windowsill and looking down at the city below. She had her back on Rick, pretending to not have heard him at all._

 _Rick sighed again and closed the door behind him in frustration upon realizing that conversation wasn't going anywhere. Then he stood still and watched her; for a moment contemplating how much she looked like a painting: the dying golden sunlight of the afternoon shining on her from the window, a long shadow stretching from below her – dancing on the floor as she slowly wagged her tail from side to side._

 _Despite everything that had happened between them, her beauty never ceased to captivate him._

 _Coming back to reality with a heavy breath, Rick took out his jacket and tossed it aside, approaching her and leaning on the windowsill by her side but not once looking at her directly. They kept looking down at the city, watching the movement as if they were at peace – when nothing could be farther from the truth._

 _"I thought he was dead." Lydia blurted out._

 _Rick's ears perked up and his eyes widened at her sudden words, remaining silent as he knew she had more to say after that. She kept staring ahead as if Rick wasn't even by her side._

 _"When I woke up today he was kicking like crazy," She smiled slightly, "For a moment it felt like he was trying to escape me. And it was like that the whole day… Until he suddenly stopped moving at all. Just like that. And then… It began hurting. I felt like, like someone was dragging my insides down somehow. It burned like hell. In that moment, I thought to myself 'he's dead'."_

 _The male fox blinked and looked down at her round belly; wondering how it felt to have something alive inside of you. It seemed rather creepy, but at the same time, it was amazing to him._

 _"You made a mistake. That's alright. And the baby is fine, so are you. That's all that matters." Rick comforted her._

 _The vixen took a deep breath and turned her head to look at him. A sunbeam shone right at her face, hitting her yellow eyes and making them shine like gold. Rick gulped, feeling his heart skip a beat – like it did when he first saw her._

 _"The reason why I didn't call you," She looked down again, "Well, it was because all I could think about in that moment was 'he's dead'. I, I was terrified. I couldn't even think rationally, all I had in mind was 'he's dead. He's inside me, and he's dead.'"_

 _Her voice began quivering and so did her lips, as if just talking about it brought back all she had felt in that moment._

 _"I guess I got scared," She smoothed her hand over her face before looking back at Rick. "I'm sorry. You're right, I really should have called you."_

 _Rick nodded, "I would have been scared too. It's alright. I'm sorry I was so insensitive. It just really scared me when Melody told me that you were at the hospital." He scoffed and scratched the back of his head._

 _"Really? I hadn't even noticed it by the way you basically burst into the hospital like that." She smiled smugly, taking a hand to her chin and raising an eyebrow at Rick. He smiled back and rolled his eyes, his cheeks warming slightly at her statement. For a moment, she seemed to have gone back to her normal self, fun loving and sassy; the Lydia she was when he first met her._

 _"But you have no reason to worry. The baby is fine." She continued, smile disappearing._

 _"It wasn't just about the baby," Rick muttered, watching it as his sentence made Lydia's eyes widen. The deeper meaning that sentence implied hung in the air, but they both refused to directly think or talk about it. "I was worried… about you too. I know how troublesome a pregnancy can be. It could be dangerous for you too. I mean, you could have died as well."_

 _"So?" Lydia tapped her fingers on the windowsill, looking frustrated. "Rick, why the hell do you still care about me?"_

 _Rick frowned. "Uh, what am I supposed to do?"_

 _"I don't know," She began counting on her fingers, "Move on, not care, ignore me, pretend nothing ever happened…"_

 _"I can't do that." He shook his head, "I can't just, not care about you anymore. That's not how it works, you can't just switch it off. What happened, happened; and you can't erase the past. I can't just stop caring."_

 _She let out a heavy sigh. "I wish you could. It would be so much easier if you could just… Pick who you care about, you know? Or choose who you won't care about. If only your brain had power over your heart, and not the other way around."_

 _Rick couldn't tell if by 'you' she had meant him or just one in general as her voice and expression had left it ambiguous. Still, he nodded to signify he had understood. Boy, did he wish for that too._

 _"Yeah. If only."_

 _Silence reigned after that until Lydia winced and stepped back away from the windowsill – using one hand to lean on it while the other held her belly._

 _"You alright?" Rick blurted out with a gasp as he jumped away from the windowsill, arms stretched out as if he was prepared to catch something._

 _"Yeah, yeah," She breathed heavily and opened her eyes, "It's just the baby kicking. When he calms down and then begins to kick again it hurts a little. Honestly, he might as well grow up to be a soccer player."_

 _Rick sighed in relief, "Or maybe a black-belt fighter." He quipped._

 _Lydia nodded and lightly giggled while Rick looked down as she ran her hand over her belly. He would love to feel his baby kicking, to feel him even before he was born; but he just couldn't ask her for that. It'd probably do more harm than good anyway._

 _"How does it feel?" He asked before he could stop himself, and when she gave him a puzzled look he continued, "When he kicks inside of you, how does it feel?"_

 _"Oh, hum, I don't know." She shrugged. "It's like you had eaten one of those toys that can move on their own and they somehow turned on in your stomach. Or like you had eaten living insects and they're flying around inside you. But sometimes it tickles too. It's weird." She let out a light chuckle._

 _He chuckled back. "I can imagine."_

 _She looked up at Rick, who still had his gaze locked on her belly. She seemed to be hit by how kind and sweet he looked when he looked at their unborn baby. Lydia bit her lip and smiled._

 _"Do you want to feel it?"_

 _Rick snapped out of his thoughts, looking up into her eyes and wondering if he had heard it correctly._

 _"Uh, you sure? I don't want you to do anything you're not okay with." He held out his hands._

 _"It's fine by me if you want to." Lydia shrugged, moving her hand away from her belly and lifting her shirt. "I mean, you got me pregnant, dude. Not like you touching my belly would be the most awkward thing ever, right?" She scoffed._

 _A pink color danced over Rick's cheeks as he felt his face quickly warming up, but she waved her hand as in to dismiss the topic. Trying to focus on the moment, he felt his eyes tear up as he knelt because of the height different there was between them and stretched out his hand, but didn't seem to get them to touch Lydia as it just fluttered around her belly. He almost seemed to be afraid of touching her; or just not capable of doing so._

 _The vixen then stretched her hand out and wrapped it around his wrist, pulling Rick's hand forward until it was laying over her stomach and placed it over a certain spot, laying her hand over his. He looked up at her in shock and saw that she was smiling down at him, but he didn't even have time to get shocked over that as his attention was brought back to her belly when he felt a light bump against his hand._

 _And then came another. And another._

 _"Wow," He babbled, breathless, as he began to caress her stomach, her hand always over his as he did so. It was amazing to feel his baby – their baby – moving around, to know that he was there._

 _"Yeah," She sighed, smiling down at him._

 _Rick felt his heart warming up inside when he looked up and his eyes met hers, running his thumb over Lydia's stomach as he stood up from the floor, taking her hand in his as he did so and holding it. She seemed to be just as lost in thoughts as he was, and for a moment, it felt like they were just a normal couple, who couldn't be happier about having a baby together. They looked to each other and got lost in each other's eyes, as if they were the only ones left in the world._

 _Rick felt his brain being left behind as he leaned forward, and right before he closed his eyes he saw Lydia leaning up toward him as well. However, unlike he expected, their lips didn't meet. He opened his eyes when she yanked her hand away from his and gave a step back – as if a switch had gone off._

 _He blinked, confused; failing to understand what had just happened. She shook her head and folded her arms, giving another step back to distance herself from him even more._

 _"I, I need to go to the bathroom." She blurted out looking down, as if she was just trying to find an excuse to leave the room – dismissing that moment as if it had never happened when she turned around and left Rick behind._

 _Rick stood still, appalled, confused and trying to organize the jumbled mess that was his thoughts at that moment. His heart was racing, and above all, aching. He took a deep breath and leaned on the windowsill again, looking down at the city once more before he buried his face in his hands to dry the tears that began running down his face._

* * *

 **Is this confusing you yet?**

 **Thank you for reading! See you guys next chapter. Let me know your thoughts if you feel like it. Peace!**


	17. A path to follow

**New chapter! Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"I told you, didn't I?" Nick gloated as he paced back and forth in the ZPD hallway. He had been doing that for so long now that Judy could swear his feet were going to burn open a hole on the floor any time soon.

"We still don't know anything, Nick! You can't just jump into conclusions." Judy retorted, nose twitching. She couldn't deny the facts, but she couldn't give up her ideas just yet, even with strong evidence like the one they had. Not until she knew the entire truth.

"Oh, come on, Carrots!" Nick scoffed, "Orange fox fur was found all over the body of that raccoon, and Rick just happens to know him? Do you know how rare it is for a fox to have orange fur? Not even his own son has that trait! I'm his brother and I don't either! Don't come and tell me this is all just a coincidence!"

He looked at Judy and waited for her answer, shooting her a defiant glare.

"It could be!" She sputtered after a while, not being able to come up with anything else to respond to Nick. Her heart beat fast as she hoped with all her might that she was right, it was a coincidence; and Rick would never hurt anyone. It would be embarrassing to admit she was wrong after defending Rick so fiercely, but it ached to think Rick could have murdered someone. What would they tell Robin? He would probably go for adoption… Judy didn't even want to think about how he would feel if that happened.

Nick rolled his eyes and smiled smugly, sitting down by Judy's side and putting his hands behind his head; knowing he had won that argument. Judy frowned and folded her arms over her chest in discontent, just like a kid who didn't get a second cookie for dessert. Call her a stubborn rabbit all you want, she would not let go of her beliefs. Yet.

After what felt like forever, the door beside Nick and Judy was open to reveal Rick with Bogo standing behind him. The fox looked down at his hands, rubbing his wrists that previously had handcuffs on them. They were gone now, but the cold feeling of the silver lingered on his skin.

Bogo tapped him on the shoulder, getting the fox to look up at him. Nick and Judy watched the scene in expectation.

"You can walk out now, Richard. It's fine. You're no longer a suspect." He said as the fox nodded and walked out of the room, being followed by the chief.

That statement made Nick gasp in shock and Judy, in happiness. They both jumped out of their seats and walked up to their boss. Judy stood in front of Rick and took his hands in hers, looking up at him with a reassuring smile that got him to smile back at her. Nick forced a gag sound before looking up at Bogo, who seemed to notice he wanted an explanation.

"Mr. Wilde's DNA does not match the one found with the corpse. However, they are the same color; so now we know to keep an eye out for any male orange fox." He explained carefully, while Nick stood with his mouth agape and clenched his fists, glaring at Rick. "Mr. Wilde is free to go now. You're clean."

"Thank you." Rick smiled in relief.

Bogo nodded, before looking at Nick and Judy, "You two, go ask Clawhauser if he already gathered the information I asked him to help you about this case." He waited for the officers to nod at him and turned around, going back into the lab and closing the door behind him.

Nick, Rick and Judy stood still until the door was shut. An awkward silence took place, except for the sound of Nick's teeth gritting inside his mouth and his eye twitching, reminding Judy of the expression he made when she got him to help her solve her first case. Afraid that he was going to snap something at Rick, she stood between the two of them and looked up at Nick.

"Hey, we should get going. Bogo gave us an order, and we still haven't got a clue as to what we should do next. Come on, we need to hurry!" She said, forcing a smile and motioning for Nick to follow her as she hopped forward in hopes to lighten up the mood.

Shooting one last disappointed glance at Rick, who seemed to be too lost in his own thoughts to even notice the word around him, Nick nodded and followed the rabbit. They were a few feet away when Rick snapped out of his thoughts and jogged to get by their side, but making sure to stay a few feet behind the cops.

Glancing back at his brother, Nick wondered if it was just his impression, or if Rick did look distressed as they walked.

* * *

"We can take you to go pick Robin up from the daycare and then we can leave you at my apartment. I don't know when I'll be back, depends on how long it'll take us to check on the information." Nick told Rick as they stood by the balcony and waited for Clawhauser to come back as he had gone search for the archives he was requested. Rick merely nodded, and Nick couldn't help but think he was acting weird.

His attention was taken off his brother when the cheetah returned, holding some files and putting them on the balcony.

"Here you go," He announced as Judy and Nick approached the balcony to get a better look at the files, "I gathered information about all the mechanical workshops around that area, and all the business ran by raccoons as well if those don't lead to anything." Clawhauser stopped to take a sip of his soda when he seemed to have remembered something, "Oh, but there is one I think you two should go check first."

Judy and Nick watched it as he fidgeted with the files until he found the one he was looking for and handed it to the rabbit. She nodded and then opened it; Nick leaning over her shoulder to read it as well.

"'Coy's and Ray's mechanical workshop. Repairs in general.'" Judy read the title of the file, ears twitching. "Coy! That's the raccoon's name!" She smiled and then read the address below the name. "It's quite near the place where the body was found, too! Wow, thank you Clawhauser, you're amazing!"

The cheetah blushed, "You're welcome. Anything to help you guys out!"

"Okay, we have a place to check now. Let's go, guys!" She pumped her forearm and ran out the door, leaving the two foxes behind. They shrugged before following her out.

"Is she always like that when you get a new clue?" Rick asked.

"Nah, usually she's not this calm about it." Nick replied with a chuckle.

* * *

"Well, this is the place." Judy said as she turned the car off and looked at the mechanical workshop through the driver's window.

Nick leaned forward to get a look from her window, mouthing a simple "ew". To call that place a store was an overstatement; it was just an open garage with a sign that read "Coy and Ray" hanging loosely above it. There were empty cans and bottles piled up by the door and by what they could see from there, the insides weren't much cleaner than that. They exchanged glances before leaving the car and approaching the garage.

"Hello?" Judy called as they walked in. There didn't seem to be anyone there, so she looked around in search for some doorbell, but found none.

There was a door on the wall across then, that seemed to lead to the house attached to that garage. Nick walked up to it and knocked on it while Judy looked around once more, taking in that place. There wasn't anything weird about it, just what you'd expect in a place like that: an old wooden table with tools and cigarettes on it, several pieces and hoses hanging on the walls and several bottles and cans full of screws over shelves. The place smelled an awful combination of oil, smoke and alcohol.

"Coy, that better be you, or Imma do some butt-kickin' when yah get here!" Called a voice from inside the house after Nick knocked on it. Judy ran to his side.

Shortly after, the door was open to reveal a short, old raccoon that was wearing a torn grey shirt stained with oil and food, and red pants that followed the same pattern. He held an angry expression that softened once he saw Nick and Judy, but he still didn't seem to be happy as he walked in the garage and closed the door behind him. Judy could swear his presence worsened the putrid smell around them.

"Sorry, fellas", he spoke in a heavy southern accent as he walked past Nick and Judy and grabbed a cigarette from the table, "I thought it was that pesky old brother o' mine. Whatever. What can I do yah for? Need some help with the car there?" He asked, somehow kindly, as he nodded to the police car outside.

Nick and Judy exchanged glances and took a deep breath.

"No, we're not here for the car, sir." Nick answered, stepping forward. "Hum, we get that you know Coy, right?"

The raccoon's face scrunched. "I sure do! It's my brother who shoulda been workin' today, but the darn rascal ain't pickin' up his phone! I been running all over hell's half acre over here."

He looked back at Nick, and only then it seemed to dawn upon him that those two standing in front of him were officers. He sighed and ran his hand over his head. "Oh, run me over, is he givin' the law a hard time again?"

"Again?" Judy tilted her head.

"I'm afraid he ain't the best example 'round, yah know?" He heaved. "What has he been bothering yah with this time?"

Judy bit her lip, unsure of how to give him the awful news. She took a deep breath and put her hands together, ears drooping back as she gathered strength to word what was on her mind. The worried look he was giving her made the whole situation a lot harder.

"I, I'm awfully sorry, sir," She muttered, "Coy was found dead yesterday. All the evidences lead to murder."

Ray gasped, the cigarette in his mouth dropping the floor. However, unlike what Nick and Judy expected him to do, he didn't freak out or anything like that. He merely sighed and shook his head, trying to calm himself down as he sat down on a chair.

"Oh, dear lord," He uttered, pinching the bridge of his muzzle, without a hint of surprise or shock. Judy and Nick looked at each other in confusion before they approached him, but kept some distance to show respect.

"Sir?" Nick called.

"'nuff with the sir thing, son, yah can call me Ray." Ray said as he picked up the cigarette from the floor and threw it in a trash can, wiping his hands on his shirt once more. "Coy was my brother. We ran this junk together."

Ray motioned for the cops to take a seat on the other chairs, and so they did as Ray stood up and got himself another cigarette. He held out the box for Nick and Judy, and continued to speak as they declined the offer.

"He'd been gettin' in a whole lotta trouble these days. Messin' with mammals you shouldn't mess with, yah know. I told him to stop, but he didn't listen to a damn word I said. Ugh. I knew that couldn't end well."

Ray then opened a drawer on the table and picked up a small bottle that he opened and took three pills out. He threw them in his mouth and swallowed hard, without any liquid to help, which made him cough and sputter as he sat back down in front of the cops.

"Tell me watcha know." He told them with watery eyes.

Judy sighed, still uneasy at how calm he seemed to be upon hearing such awful news.

"His body was found in Brittle Street," Nick reported, "He seemed to have fought with someone… And he lost. His body was clear from any kind of drugs or illegal substances."

"He ain't never been a good fighter," Ray uttered under his breath with a weak laugh.

There was silence as the raccoon wiped his eyes and coughed again.

"Hum, you said he had been dealing with mammals he shouldn't have," Judy tried to bring the topic back to life, "Those could be the murderers we're after. We need to find them before they make more victims. Do you think you can help us find them?"

"Jee, I don't know, ma'am. I never saw them, I ain't getting involved with them, bad mammals I tell yah! Coy told me they had schemes to make it big and stupid Coy began stealin' stuff for them. That's all I know." He shrugged. "I told him that if he didn't watch out, they were gonna cream his corn, and they did. They buckin' did, that stupid raccoon!" Ray yelled out in frustration.

Judy took out her notebook and a pen, sticking her tongue out as she tried to decipher what that information meant.

"So, hum, he took part in some kind of scheme and began stealing for the people behind that scheme?" She looked at the raccoon and Ray nodded, "Okay. Do you think those people could be the ones who murdered him?"

"I wouldn't doubt it, ma'am." He heaved. "They're bad mammals, yah know the kind. Owe 'em ten bucks, yah gonna pay 'em with your life. He must have faltered bad this time."

Nick shuddered.

"Did he owe them money?"

"I don't know for sure. He owed 'em somethin', that's what I know. If yah find 'em you gotta tell me, Imma give 'em a piece of my mind!"

Judy sighed, and so did Nick.

"Okay. I assure you we'll do our best to find the ones who murdered Coy and we'll take them to justice." Judy smiled at him and he nodded. "Still, we have close to nothing to lead us to a possible suspect. Do you think there's anything else you can tell us that could help? Names, addresses, anything can help in a case like this."

"Uh, yah got me there." He muttered, taking his hand to his chin and looking up, "Oh, there was this place he used to go to almost every night. A club, I think. I don't know if it's got anythin' to do with the case, but he did go there a lot. Think that can help?"

"Of course, anything can be a possible clue!" Judy exclaimed, excited at the thought of finally having some clue as she took her pen to her notebook and got ready to write. "A club, you said?"

"Yeah, this place called, uh… Red, no, uh… The Crimson Beast, there yah go. That's the place. He went there a lot instead of working, that stupid piece of trash. I told him, I told him to stop…" He trailed off as he looked down and sighed, wiping his eyes.

"It's alright, sir- I mean, Ray," Nick comforted him, laying a hand on his shoulder and standing up from his seat, "You helped plenty. Thank you so much. And we're sorry for your loss."

"It's fine, son, that's how life goes." He sighed and stood up as well, following the cops to the door and taking out a card from his pocket once they were out. He handed it to Nick and forced a smile, eyes red and teeth slightly yellow from the smoking. "Call me if yah find anythin' or need more help. Or if yah need to fix up your car."

"We will." Judy nodded and smiled. "Thank you so much, Ray. Oh, by the way, we're Judy and Nick. Here," She quickly wrote down a number on her notebook before ripping the page out and handing it to him, "Feel free to call us anytime if you have more clues or need anything. I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank yah, bunny cop. I sure will." He tipped his head and waved them goodbye as they walked to their car. Shortly after he turned around and went back into the garage, closing it.

Judy reached for her phone after buckling up her seatbelt and opened her GPS app, typing in "Crimson Beast". Surely, a club appeared down in the suggestions and she clicked on it as the app loaded the path they had to follow. To get there.

"Well, I guess we know what our next step is now." Nick sighed.

"Wish us good luck," Judy nodded and sighed as she turned the car on and drove into the highway. Nobody seemed to notice the skanky weasel who was leaning against the wall of the garage all the times, hidden under the shadows, seemingly innocent as he pulled out a phone from his pocket and dialed a number. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Hey, chief," The weasel greeted, "Watch out. Two cops just came to Coy's place and asked stuff to his brother. I think he spilled some beans to them because they're going to the club now."

A curse word came from the other end.

"Well," the voice said after cursing. "You know the rules. Anyone who knows has to go."

"Consider that done, boss." The weasel smiled smugly, taking a gun out of his jacket.

* * *

 **I'm not american so trying to write an accent was hard. I'm sorry if I got anything wrong, google and some movies were the only resources I had. Anyway, thank you so much for reading! See yah next chapter!**


	18. No answers

**Warning: mild bloody descriptions, sexual assault mentions ahead.**

* * *

Judy and Nick got to the club after driving for a few minutes. It wasn't that far from the mechanical shop, and Judy wondered if Coy used to go there by foot – if so, some mammal that was passing by was bound to have seen him on the day of his death. Maybe they could find someone who could describe what the aggressors looked like, so that they had something concrete to look for. She made a mental note to do that later.

"This is the place," She said as she parked the car. "But it seems to be closed."

"It's barely 6pm now, and this is one of those night clubs," Nick answered as he opened the car door, "It probably won't be open until late at night. But we still should check around now, while nobody is here to bother us. It can provide us some information on the case."

The rabbit nodded and analyzed the place. It looked simple on the outside, a rather long gray building with two big black doors; and above them the saying 'The crimson beast' was written in those neon letters with an overly round font, a neon circle at the end of it. A strong smell of beer and cigarettes surrounded them as Judy looked around. Despite the foul smell, the area seemed to be clean and clear of any suspicious items.

"It seems normal to me," She sighed, "Nothing that could help us right now."

"Well, I didn't expect hot clues to be just waiting for us here- oh, snap." Nick exclaimed as he looked up, getting Judy to look up as well. She tried to see what it was that startled him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"What?" She scrunched.

"The circle, at the end of the letters," Nick said as he pointed to it, "That means this place is what they call a red spot."

Judy's confused look remained the same.

"Which means this place is for predators only. Prey aren't welcome here." Nick explained further.

"What?" Her eyes widened, "Is that even a thing?"

"Yeah, some predators like to have a place to 'let out their instincts' without preys around to stop them," He sighed, "It's not like they're not legally allowed in, prey can just walk in if they want, but they surely won't be welcome by the other clients. Considering this neighborhood, it could even cause some trouble if you went in there, Carrots."

Judy sighed in frustration again. "Then we need to find someone else to come here with you tonight, it could be dangerous for you to be alone in this investigation. I'll check if Officer Smith is available-" She took out her phone to message the wolf, but Nick put his paw over it before she could. Judy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Judy, you don't get it. I'm not going in there as a cop."

Her nose twitched. "Why not?"

"Come with me," He motioned for her to follow him as they went back to the car, only this time he sat at the driver's seat, asking for her to give him the keys. Still confused she did as he asked, hoping he'd give her an explanation soon enough.

* * *

"If there's one thing I learned in all those years I spent working as a con artist, is that clubs are a great place to discuss schemes and arrange meetings with those you work with without raising any suspicions." Nick told Judy as he began driving, although she wasn't sure where he was taking them yet and her curiosity was peaking, she decided to let him explain before asking.

"I used to go to red spots and some other places a lot with Finnick. We'd meet up clients and fellow workers there. In fact, I think I met Mr. Big in a club. Thing is, those places can be full of bandits who would not be happy about a cop being there. We'd be dead meat if we did that, especially in a place like Brittle Street."

Judy shivered and shrank in her seat. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

"We have to be shifty and smart to deal with this case. Luckily, that's what foxes do best," He smiled smugly and pointed to himself with pride, "I'll go there dressed as a normal client, maybe take some time to blend in with the others, and then I'll try to get some information. They won't share anything unless they think I'm one of them."

Judy nodded, yet she remained unsure. "What if you get hurt?"

"Come on Carrots, when was the last time I got into trouble?" She glared at him and he held out his hand, "Don't answer it. I'm going to be fine."

"Fine, but where are you taking us?" She asked, looking out the window to see if she spotted something familiar, but she couldn't recognize that place.

"Looking for someone who I know can help us- There!" He smiled and pointed at a van that was parked in an empty street, and Judy immediately knew who Nick was talking about. She nodded as they left the car and walked toward the van.

Nick knocked on the van's back door, and it was just a matter of seconds before Finnick slammed the door open, baseball bat in hand. Judy jumped back, but Nick was unfazed. Finnick's angry expression immediately softened when he saw that it was Nick who called him, a smuggle smile sprouting on his face.

"Oh, would you look at that, it's Nick the cop visiting us rabbles," He dropped the baseball bat behind him, "If I knew of such an honor I'd have cleaned this place up a bit. Hi officer Hopps." Judy waved back shyly.

"Nice to see you too, Finnick. I see you haven't changed your warming welcomes."

Finnick scoffed and opened both doors of the van, motioning for the cops to get in. Nick jumped up and Judy followed suit, sitting down beside Nick as Finnick closed the doors and turned to them.

"I was hoping you could help us with a case," Nick answered before Finnick could ask.

Finnick's eyes widened as he let out a weak laugh, "Me? You want _my_ help to solve a case? Damn, you two must be desperate."

Judy didn't like how snuck-up he sounded, but unfortunately, he was right.

"This case involves a club," Nick rested his elbow on his knee and leaned toward the little fox who sat across from him, raising an eyebrow, "And nobody in this city knows more about those places than you do. You should feel honored; your knowledge will finally be useful."

Finnick opened a can of beer and took a sip before replying, "As if my knowledge wasn't useful back when we worked together."

"Definitely, our scams wouldn't have worked if you didn't know how to play a baby so well. You even fooled Carrots here!" Nick laughed when Judy punched his arm and Finnick rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. What is it you want?"

"The crimson beast. Red spot. Raccoon called Coy. Does it ring any bells?" Nick asked.

A smirk took over Finnick's face. "Sure does. That place has a hot vixen who works as a barista. She plays it difficult, but I kind of like it. I haven't gone there in a while, though. I should go again soon. It's a nice place to smoke some."

"Didn't get your way with a girl? You're losing your touch, Finnick." Nick jeered.

Finnick was about to say something when Judy spoke up, "Guys, that's not what this is about! Finnick, a raccoon called Coy was murdered and all we know is that he went to that place a lot. He had a huge scar over his eye. Did you know him?"

The sand-colored fox looked up and took another sip of his drink, suddenly sounding more serious than before.

"Scarred eye racoon, you say? I've seen a guy like that there a few times. He was such a loud mouth, he'd never shut up. Always bragging about his scams as if he was the best, humph, sure. Last time I was there he was talking about this 'new job' that he got." Finnick made air quotes to emphasize what he meant.

"Do you know what kind of job it was?" Nick inquired.

"Not exactly, but it was something big. He asked me if I wanted to join in the scheme, but I said no because I work alone now, so he didn't give me any details. Just said I was missing out on something good. From what I gathered he met some of his partners there sometimes. I didn't know he had been killed."

Nick seemed to ponder on that. "A new job… Did his group have enemies?"

"Everyone is an enemy when you're against the law, Nick. You know that," Finnick shrugged, "You know how these mammals are. Fool them once, you won't live to fool them twice."

"Ray did say he owed them something," Judy nodded.

"Do you know any of the mammals he worked with? Any of the mammals he talked to when he was there?"

Finnick snapped his fingers. "Yes. Steve. He's a weasel. They were always together when they were there, so he probably worked with him. Coy wouldn't be around someone he didn't trust when talking about his 'job'."

"Steve, weasel, alright." Judy wrote down on her notebook. "Finnick, is that really all you can help us with?"

Finnick looked up and sighed, "Yeah, sorry bunny-bun."

"It's alright," Judy sighed, going to the van door. "Thanks, Finnick."

"Thanks, buddy," Nick held his fist in front of the smaller fox, who bumped his own fist against Nick's as he followed the bunny, "I knew you'd be useful."

Finnick only nodded in response, watching it as Nick and Judy went back to their car and then closed the doors of the van. He sighed and slouched down on the old mattress he slept on.

"Good luck, Nick," Finnick muttered to himself, "You'll really need it this time."

* * *

Judy and Nick entered their car, both with a frown. Judy put the key in the keyhole, but didn't turn the car on. She tapped her fingers on the driving wheel, while Nick sighed and reached for a soda can that he kept on the door of his car and opened it.

Judy knew that feeling very well – the feeling of not knowing what to do next. They were close to no clues, and they weren't any closer to solving the case even with Finnick's help.

"Well," Judy smiled, trying to sound positive, "At least now we have something else to look for!" She reached for her notebook and opened it on her annotations, "A weasel named Steve. Keep an eye out for him when you go to the club tonight."

"Got it," Nick nodded. "Carrots, don't worry, I've got this. Just like them old days. Only now I'm actually in the law's side."

Judy smirked at him and shook her head. "Alright. So far, we know about the club, we know about Steve, and we know that an orange fox..."

Nick let out a groan.

"A fox that _isn't_ Rick..." Judy added before he could complain or make any remarks, "An orange fox was present when he was murdered. If you see an orange male fox at the club, keep an eye out for him. It could just take us a huge step further in our investigation!" Now, she sounded excited and hopeful. "As for the other animals..."

A ringtone interrupted Judy, and she quickly reached for her phone. She turned her screen to Nick so that he could see it was Bogo who was calling, and the fox straightened himself up in curiosity. Judy then picked up the call and put it on speaker, heart racing.

"Yes, chief?"

"Officer Hopps, where are you and Officer Wilde?"

"Oh, hum, we just quickly stopped to ask some questions to Nick's friend, and we actually got a pretty good clue! We found that Coy was always around a weasel named Steve in the club they went to a lot. If we find him, or the orange fox, we can-"

"Hopps," He interrupted, "That's great information and we'll need to have all the details written down. But right now, we need you two at the mechanical shop you went to earlier today."

Judy's and Nick's eyes widened as they looked to each other in confusion.

"You mean Ray's shop?" Nick questioned, "Why, sir?"

Bogo sighed at the other end, "Ray has been murdered as well."

* * *

The mechanical shop was surrounded by the police tape when Nick and Judy got there, a few curious mammals tried to peek at what was happening inside, but their view was quickly blocked by the cops guarding the area. They stepped sideways to let Nick and Judy walk into the shop when they showed them their badges.

Doctor Hofstadter and Chief Bogo were there, standing beside Ray's body. Bogo stood still, watching as the doctor worked on Ray. The chief saw the duo arriving at the shop's door and nodded at them, telling them it was okay for them to walk in.

Judy gasped, still not able to believe that had really happened. Ray's body wasn't nearly as bad as that of his brother, but the scene was still gruesome. A huge stain of blood had colored his shirt a deep shade of red, smearing the ground around him as well. His jaw was slacked open and his eyes were open and dull.

"I…" Judy shook her head, "What happened here?"

"He was shot. Pistol. Shooter aimed for the heart, but missed for one inch. He managed to shoot his vein though, so this poor racoon had no chance to survive after this." The doctor replied, in her usual dry and straight-to-the-point way.

Nick noticed Bogo was holding a plastic bag with a pistol inside. "Is that the pistol?"

Bogo nodded. "We found it in the racoon's hand, but everything leads to foul play."

Judy's nose twitched. "Meaning?"

"Someone killed him and attempted to make it look like a suicide," The weasel replied, "The bullet came from at least 2 feet away from where the racoon was standing, there's no way he shot himself. The footprints there indicate that he gave steps back before falling, which means the impact was strong. That wouldn't have happened if he had shot himself since he would have to hold the gun only a few inches away from his chest."

Nick rolled his eyes, "They really tried to make it look like a suicide by shooting him in the chest? That doesn't happen, not even in movies."

"Exactly." The weasel continued, "There's a reason why people who kill themselves usually aim for their head. Not only is it certain and easier, but to shoot yourself in the chest you'd have to twist your hand in an awkward angle and it'd be hard to pull the trigger or even hold the gun. There's no doubt about it, it was a murder."

"Alright," Judy sighed, "What other clues do we have?"

"Not many, I fear." Bogo sighed, "We're going to search the place for fingerprints and fur, but so far all that we have is the gun and the fact that this raccoon was killed right after you two left."

Judy looked at Nick and raised an eyebrow, then she looked back at Bogo. "I suppose that's not a coincidence."

"I'm afraid that a coincidence is unlikely. Someone was waiting for you two to leave before they committed a crime. They probably saw you. So, whatever you do now," Bogo looked at them with pleading eyes, "you need to be careful."

* * *

Lydia slowly walked into the club from the back door where they kept the supplies, turning on the lights. Her eyes were droopy and she kept rubbing them, yet it did little to wake her up. All she wanted was to lie down and sleep more, but work called her.

With a loud raspy yawn, she walked back to the balcony.

The vixen picked up a cloth that was kept at the back of the balcony and dipped it in cold water, using it to wash the sand away from her eyes before wiping the balcony clean. If one used the word 'clean' vacantly that is, because that place always felt dirty to her, no matter how hard one tried to clean it. She was so tired and focused on her task that she didn't notice the fox approaching her from her behind.

"Hello, babe," The raspy voice said and Lydia's nape fur instantly went up as she cursed under her breath when a pair of arms was wrapped around her stomach, "Did you miss me?"

"Yeah, with every bullet so far," She hissed and stood upright, pushing the other fox backways with her elbows before turning around to face him, eyebrows knitted together. The smug smile he had on his face made her want to ruin it by breaking his teeth with a punch.

"Oh, honey, you shouldn't be so cheeky. It kind of ruins your charm, you know?"

The male fox leaned forward quickly, and Lydia barely had time to look aside so that he kissed her cheek instead of her lips as he had initially intended to do. Despite being successful in avoiding the more intimate contact, that was already enough to make her feel her dinner from the night before coming all the way up her throat.

"Don't call me honey," She muttered and looked down, placing one hand on his chest and pushing him away, but instead of backing off he quickly grabbed her hand and twisted it in a painful way before yanking her close to him. She let out a loud whine and slightly bent over, trying to yank her hand away from him, but failing.

"I call you whatever I want," He gave her a dark smirk, "Get it, sweetheart?"

He twisted her hand a little more and her knees began trembling, she feared they might give in from the pain irradiating from her wrist. She wanted to do something, say something, _anything_.

But she couldn't. And he knew that.

The male fox held her other hand as well, also involving it in a painful grip, before he leaned down and kissed her neck, his warm breath hitting her nape as she tried to squirm away from him before her body petrified. Tears began walling up at the corner of her eyes and she began sobbing quietly, helpless as the male advanced on her somewhat consensual, yet unwilling body.

His kisses and touches made her body burn and her insides twist, the pain from her wrists reaching her entire body and making it hard to breathe. She gasped and her eyes shot open when she felt his hand letting go of her wrist and going up her thigh, her fur going up wherever he touched her.

When the sound of his belt unbuckling got to her ears, she closed her eyes again and let the tears fall; the pain, rage and disgust numbing her body. She just wished it was numb enough so that she didn't feel anything he did.

But she always felt it.

It was when a voice called from behind and the moment was broken, much to her relief.

"Ooh, am I interrupting your fun, chief?"

The male fox jumped around, groaning in annoyance as the vixen quickly wiped her tears away and sighed in relief, although the anger and the disgust lingered all over her body, as if he was still touching her. Still, she just turned around and pretended that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, going back to her cleaning duty.

"You better have a good reason to be here, Steve," The fox said as he adjusted his belt back to its place and straightened up his shirt. "I'm not in the best of moods."

"I believe I do," The weasel smiled, "Ray has been officially taken care of."

The fox's expression went from annoyed to satisfied. "And nobody saw you?"

"Nobody."

"Well, you actually did something right this time. Good job."

Steve proudly folded his arms over his chest. "And I have one more thing for you, chief. You know, to make you happy."

"Oh? What is it?"

The weasel reached for his pocket and took out his phone, turning its screen to the fox. "These are the cops who are searching for who killed the raccoons. I would have killed them too, but they left before I could."

The fox took the phone in his hand and began guffawing. "A fox and a bunny? Really? _These_ are the cops who I was so worried about? Damn, that ZPD must be desperate for officers, they really let anyone in these days."

He threw the phone back to the weasel and turned to the vixen, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up at him, pulling her up. "Don't worry darling, we can pick up from where we left off once I'm back."

Lydia hissed and gagged when he kissed her cheek before finally letting her go. She shook her head and wiped her cheek, so angry that she had to hold herself back not to punch the balcony.

The fox took a deep breath and reached for some keys that were in his pocket, going to the front door. Before he left, he turned to the weasel, "Steve, message me that picture. I need to know who we're taking down next."

"You got it, boss." Steve said as he sent him the picture. "You got it."

* * *

 **I missed writing so much. School has been a pain.**

 **Well, thank you for reading, and thank you for all the reviews this has gotten so far! See you next chapter ^^**


	19. Robin

**Another flashback chapter. I was going to add some present here too but it got too long. I also wanted Judy and Nick's investigation of the club to be all in one chapter, so I'll leave that to the next one. This is a little bit of a filler, but I wanted to write it to flesh out Rick's character a little more. Hope you'll enjoy it!**

* * *

 _'_ _Five days. That's a lot of time. A lot can happen in five days. Yeah. No need to worry.'_

 _Or so Rick tried to convince himself._

 _Five days. That's what he had before his son was born, and he still had no clue of what he was going to do. He tried not to feel guilty, after all abandoning his child and never knowing what happened to him wasn't at all that bad… Yeah, sure._

 _But at the same time, letting his child go seemed to be, ironically, the one right thing to do. If he did do that, at least his baby would have a chance of doing well in life and being all right… Or, at least, much better than they'd ever be with him._

 _The more Rick thought about it, the more he was sure that the best thing he could do was to give up his child for adoption. But the surer he was about it, the less he wanted to do it._

 _Whenever the thought would just flick across his mind, his heart immediately started weighting heavier in his chest. Memories would just pop up, memories of a fox cub he had abandoned long before. He couldn't do it again, but it would be his chance to do the right thing for once…_

 _Suddenly, a sound ripped through the once peaceful air, pulling Rick out of his deep thoughts. It didn't take him long to realize it was his phone warning him of a new message, and he blindly picked it up without much care._

 _It took him several reads for the message to get through his mind and change his attitude like a switch as the words in the screen hit him with their meaning._

 _'The baby is on the way.'_

 _Once realization hit him like a train, Rick fell from the couch he was sitting on, his back hitting the floor with a thud. He barely had time to recover from the pain on the back of his head as he stood up dizzily, acting upon what felt right to do before he even had time to think about what he should do next._

 _Rick shot out of his apartment, nearly falling over several times and knocking over everything that got in his way. Those bumps would certainly leave several bruises on his body, but at that moment, he couldn't bother to care for that._

 _He began running toward the hospital – and of course, it had to be far from his house – because in his state of mind, he definitely wasn't able to drive. Had it been any other day the stares he got from other mammals around him – what, had they never seen anyone running like a lunatic before? – would make him feel uneasy. But the one thing he had on his mind was that his son was coming._

 _Which what wasn't supposed to happen. Not now._

 _There was sweat running down his forehead, which he quickly wiped away with his paw as he slowed down to enter the hospital, trying to regain control of his mind. And of his breath, as he felt like his lungs were going to come out his mouth at any moment. Maybe he needed a doctor himself._

 _The pig receptionist remembered him still, smiling up at him when he approached her and leaned on the balcony. He almost felt like his knees were going to snap as he took raspy breaths, trying to cough out a few words._

 _"Mr. Wilde, right?" The receptionist asked kindly._

 _He tried to say yes, but just nodded instead. Before she could do anything else, a rabbit dressed in white who had been watching the scene called him._

 _"Mr. Wilde," he looked at her and her delicate, yet tough expression, "I'm Nurse Angie. Please come with me."_

 _The rabbit nodded at the receptionist and turned around. Rick took a deep breath and followed her into a waiting room. She pointed at the chairs around them, but he didn't sit down._

 _"I-" He began to say, only to be interrupted by the bunny._

 _"Mind if I call you Rick? That's your name, right? I saw it in the files," She asked, reaching out to give him a glass of water, which he hadn't even seen her get in the first place. He was confused, but thirsty. He nodded in response before drinking it all in one sip._

 _"I got a text from Lydia, where-"_

 _"Please sit down," The rabbit told him, voice tone like that of a mother who was trying to control herself not to yell at her child. Slightly scared, Rick sat down in one swift move._

 _"I'm aware you must have plenty of questions," Her expression suddenly became much softer and calm, "And I'm afraid some of them aren't as easy to answer as I'd like them to be."_

 _His eyebrows knitted together and his heart sped up at her words. "What do you mean?"_

 _Angie took a deep breath. It almost felt like she was nervous about giving a speech that she had rehearsed a million times but didn't feel confident yet._

 _"I take it that you know she's almost a week early."_

 _Rick looked down and scratched his arm. "It wasn't supposed to happen for another five days according to doctor Melody."_

 _The bunny nodded, "Early deliveries are never easy, Rick. And almost a week early, that's… That's plenty of time for a fox."_

 _Rick watched her as she fidgeted to find words that could make that news as nice to hear as possible, but the dire implications got to him nevertheless._

 _"How is she?" He clenched his fists so hard that his nails almost broke his skin, "I want to see her."_

 _Angie held out her paws, "She's with Melody right now. We had to do an emergency C-section, and that is, well, complicated. But up to when I left the room, everything was going as fine as the situation allowed it to go."_

 _Rick felt the tears picking the corners of his eyes, his stomach twisting itself in a knot. "I need to see her, where-"_

 _"That's… The other thing I needed to say," Angie interrupted him again and looked down with a sigh, "You see, she asked us not to let you in. Hospital rules, you'll have to wait until later. We can still keep you informed, though."_

 _Rick felt as if he was in a prank and soon someone would come and tell him to smile at the hidden camera. That couldn't be true, could it?_

 _"But… But that's my son she's giving birth to! My son!" Suddenly, those words didn't feel as awkward to say as they did in the previous times he had thought of it, as though the situation he was in had finally made it real._

 _"I know," Angie gave him a sad smile, "But the mother has the right to choose who goes in and who stays out when she's giving birth, and well, that was what she chose and we have to comply."_

 _Rick leaned forward, burying his face in his hands and shaking his head. He felt the bunny lay a hand on his knee to comfort him, but he didn't look at her._

 _"We're doing everything we can, Rick. I'll make sure to keep you informed, alright? You can go home if you prefer, and we'll call you if anything happens."_

 _Rick slammed his back against the chair, looking up and taking a deep breath. "Thanks, but I think I'll wait here, if that's alright."_

 _"Of course," The rabbit smiled at him with a nod. It felt like she wanted to say something else, but she just turned around and left, disappearing into the halls of the hospital. Rick didn't notice she was gone until he looked back down to find the spot she was standing on previously, empty._

 _He felt clueless and lost, but there was nothing he could do except wait. And so, he did._

 _..._

 _For chairs that belonged in the waiting room, they sure did not feel comfortable to wait on. Rick had no idea how much time had passed, he just knew it had been enough time for the nurses around him to go on lunch break and come back._

 _He tried everything he could to keep his mind out of the thoughts that seemed to hunt him. He counted how many tiles there were on the wall across him – fifty-two, not counting the ones cut in half at the corners, he counted how many chairs there were around him, he played with the glass Angie had given him until it was full of fingerprints; but in the end, he'd always come back to thinking the one thing he tried so hard to avoid._

 _Above everything, it bothered him that Lydia had specifically asked that he be kept away from her and from their baby. He wanted to be there for her, he wanted to be there for his son. It was what felt right for him to do, it was what he wanted to do, yet he couldn't do it._

 _But why would she even do that? Granted, she had bluntly told him that what they had had meant nothing for her in the end, but did she really abhor him to the point where she'd rather be alone while giving birth to their child than having him there with her? Did he mean that little to her? Shouldn't the child be her priority right now, and not what she felt toward him?_

 _"Mr. Wilde?"_

 _Rick let out a small gasp when he was called after what felt like an eternity of being alone. He was anxious at the expectation of finally getting some news, but the lioness who had called him wasn't dressed like a doctor, wearing a suit instead._

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Hello, my name is Sarah." She reached out for him and they shook paws, "And I'm the hospital lawyer. There are some things I need to discuss with you, mind if I sit here?"_

 _Rick shook his head, looking down, as the lioness took the seat by his side and put a clipboard on her lap._

 _"I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but Lydia has given up her parental rights already."_

 _Rick remained silent._

 _"You see," Sarah continued upon his lack of a reply, voice calm and deep, almost soothing, "Once you give up parental rights, you give up the right to have any contact with your child; but you also give up the responsibility of having to provide for them. In less technical terms, she now holds no more right to your child as I do."_

 _Rick nodded with a sigh. 'She's really given up.'_

 _She made it sound so easy._

 _"I need to know," She continued, searching for something in the suitcase she kept, "If you plan to do the same."_

 _Rick looked at her, unsure. "What happens if I do?"_

 _"If you give up your parental rights too, your baby will be taken to an orphanage as soon as they're allowed to leave the hospital. You need to understand that although you won't have any responsibility regarding the baby, you give up your right to have any contact with your child in the future."_

 _"So… I'd never see my son? Ever again?" His voice almost cracked when he asked that._

 _"That's correct."_

 _Rick looked ahead to nowhere in particular as he pondered. He'd never see his child, ever; and he'd never know what happened to him. But then again, how much of a bad thing was that anyway? It could help him move on and forget._

 _Well, sure, he'd still think about it sometimes, like he thought of Nick-_

 _"And what happens if I don't give him up?"_

 _"Then you'd be the legal parent of the child, but you'd be on it alone. The mother has no responsibility over the baby, so you'd be the one provider and the one caretaker. If you try to persuade her into changing her mind or try to force her to help you, you could be charged with legal consequences."_

 _"I… I honestly don't know what to do yet." He scoffed and shrugged, trying not to let his desperation show._

 _"I understand." Sarah smiled at him and stood up, "If you need to talk to me regarding any question you might have, or regarding your decision, you just need to come by my office here in the hospital. It's in the psychological area. But if you don't take any actions within a week following birth, we'll assume you chose to give your baby up."_

 _He nodded at her and she walked away, but stopped and turned to him._

 _"Mr. Wilde?" Rick looked up at her, "Good luck."_

 _He managed to give her a small smile. "Thank you."_

 _'I'll definitely need it,' He thought to himself as she walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more._

 _..._

 _It had become night._

 _Rick's eyes began getting droopy, and he found himself falling asleep for a few seconds every now and then before jumping up on his seat, telling himself that he needed to remain awake. Not like he could relax enough to sleep until he knew what was happened to Lydia and their son._

 _He couldn't get himself to stop thinking of the possibility that they might not make it._

 _'They have to make it. Please, please, let them be ok.' He prayed with all his might, having never put so much effort and thought into one wish._

 _Well, that was only partially true. Sometimes, he'd do the same wish, but for Nick._

 _Rick didn't even notice when Angie walked over to him._

 _"Rick?"_

 _Rick immediately stood when he saw the bunny, heart in his hands._

 _"It was tough, but everything turned out as alright as it could." She answered before he could even ask. Upon hearing those words, Rick let out the heaviest breath – which he hadn't even noticed he was holding._

 _"How are they? How is Lydia? What about the baby?" He asked softly, suddenly noticing how cold that room was._

 _"She's alright. She'll have to stay here for a while until she recovers from her surgery but she'll be fine. However, you're still not allowed to go see her, I'm sorry. Hospital rules." Angie sighed._

 _"That's alright," He heaved with a smile, "I'm just glad she's fine. What… What about the baby?"_

 _Angie's face lit up with a smile._

 _"He's a little weak from being premature, and smaller than he should be because of that, so he'll be kept under observation until second notice; but so far things are turning out alright. He's been fed and bathed and is responding well," She looked up at Rick, "Would you like to see him?"_

 _Rick smiled and nodded without hesitating._

 _He followed Angie through some hallways and he had to hold himself not to run or urge her to go faster, and it seemed to be an eternity before they finally reached the maternity ward. Everything was clean and quiet, and Rick couldn't help but smile at how calming the place was. It was when they stopped in front of a glass window._

 _"Third row, right in the middle." Angie told him, but it took him a while before he could get himself to look to where she was indicating._

 _Among all the fussy, whining babies, there was a baby fox as quiet as one could be, looking around in silence and curiosity._

 _Rick let out a relieved laugh and ran his fingers through the tuft of hair on his head. He was far from being problem-free in his life, but in that brief moment, that was just how he felt. Just watching his little baby, his son, made it all feel all right – like it had never felt in years._

 _The baby looked much more like the mother, almost an irony when one thought of how she was the first one to reject him. Still, he had her yellow eyes, and her dark red fur. The tip of the tail, however, was black like Rick's; and he had a tuft of fur on the top of his little head, just like Rick when he was born. But there was so much that was unique to him, like the way all those traits combined._

 _He was beautiful._

 _"Wow," Rick breathed, hands against the glass. "I- I want to hold him, can I hold him?" He pleaded the rabbit._

 _"Of course," She smiled at him, and he sighed in relief, almost as if he was afraid they'd take his son away from him. She motioned for him to wait, as she went inside the room and picked the baby fox up, tucking the light blue blanket around him._

 _Rick stood still as she returned with his son in her arms._

 _"He's such a quiet little baby, I've never seen one like him before." Angie commented before she handed him the little bundle, and Rick picked him up from her arms with the slowest moves he could do, afraid that the minor slip would hurt his baby to no end._

 _Rick comforted the child in his arms. He had his eyes closed and the blanket was falling over his head, covering part of his face. Rick pulled it back, and the baby blinked his eyes open as he tried to adjust his sight to the light._

 _"Hey, little guy," Rick cooed, caressing the tuft of fur on the top of his son's head and the baby looked up at him and tilted his head in curiosity. His fur was so soft, it felt like caressing a piece of silk._

 _Rick adjusted himself to hold the baby better, and in doing so, the baby snuggled into his father's chest, letting out a soft yawn. In that moment, Rick could feel his little heartbeat against his own._

 _A few weeks before, he had heard that same heartbeat through a computer speaker, he had felt those hands against him through Lydia's belly; and now, he was holding that very heart on his arms._

 _He was so small, so delicate, so fragile. He needed someone to take care of him, someone to love him. He was Rick's son. It took him that long to realize, but it finally dawned upon Rick: he was a father. And upon seeing his baby, waves of love came crashing against his heart, filling him with warmth._

 _The baby let out a yawn and rubbed his head against Rick's shirt, closing his eyes and taking his thumb to his mouth. His tail had escaped the confines of the blanket and now it hung over Rick's belly, tickling him slightly._

 _"I should take him back to his crib," Angie informed Rick. He nodded and softly squeezed his son one last time before giving him to the rabbit. In the moment that he left his arms, Rick wanted to hold him again already._

 _As Angie took the baby back to the crib, Rick pondered to himself about everything that had happened to him thus far. Many were the times when he wanted to do the right thing, but he couldn't, or just wasn't brave enough to. He'd thought that leaving Nick would be the right thing, before he realized he'd made the hugest mistake of his life._

 _He wouldn't do that again. Even if it felt like it'd be the best, didn't mean it was what was right._

 _'Doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Like Robin Hood.'_

 _Rick smiled at Angie when he saw that she was approaching him again._

 _"Hey," He said as he looked back to the crib where his son was resting, "Do you think 'Robin' suits him?"_

* * *

 **Yes, I wanted to write baby Robin because that seemed too adorable. Sue me.**

 **Thank you for reading, leave a review! See yah next chapter ^^**


	20. The path grows

**This is the hardest chapter ever. I re-wrote it around 3 times because none of them seemed to work. I'm still tempted to throw this one away, but I feel like this is the best one yet. Well, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Darkness had engulfed the city of Zootopia as the last sunrays bid goodbye for the day before disappearing completely in the horizon.

As a result, Brittle Street had now shifted from a set of calm and silent streets to a party in the open. Mammals could be seen everywhere now, and some undoubtedly had left their homes with illicit activities in mind; not uncommon for that area.

Loud music echoed in the streets with different songs that came from every corner mixed together, causing Judy's sensitive ears to tremble along with the rhythm. She kept pulling her dress down as if that could somehow create more fabric as she had the feeling it was way too short for her body.

"Carrots, relax," Nick muttered to her as he walked by her side in an equality inappropriate attire, "We need to fit in if we want to investigate."

"Well, couldn't I fit in with a longer dress?" She muttered back, once again trying to pull her short, bright blue dress down her legs hoping that it would at least get to her knees.

Nick ignored her and pulled his phone from his pocket to read the text message he'd received from Finnick.

"It's here," He told the rabbit as they walked into a bar that seemed to be relatively peaceful in comparison to those around it, much to Judy's relief. It was easy to spot the fennec fox sitting on a stool by the bar, drink in hand.

"Hey there, Finnick!" Nick greeted as he fist-bumped the smaller fox and sat by his side, Judy taking the stool next to her partner.

"Would you look at that, you two actually came!" Finnick spoke in a weak laugh, "I thought you would chicken out in the last minute."

Judy rolled her eyes as Nick laughed.

"Come on, Finnick, have you forgotten who I am?"

"You mean, who you used to be," Finnick muttered and shook his head, "I surely haven't, but I thought you might."

"Ok, if you two are done chatting," Judy chimed in, clearly annoyed, "I'd like to remind you that we're here for a reason, not to catch up!"

"Fluff, you need to relax," Finnick merely shook his head and pushed his drink to Judy, "Take a sip, calm down! The night's still young!"

"Uh, no, thank you!" Judy hoped Nick would take her side and help her, but the fox seemed to be distracted enough by the music as he closed his eyes and nodded his head to the rhythm, unaware of his surroundings, "Nick!" She nudged his arm.

"Oh, Carrots, stop being such a party-pooper," He laughed and snatched the drink that was in front of the bunny, taking all of it in one huge sip, "If we have work to do, why not do it with a bit of fun?"

"Because there's nothing fun about murder!" Judy snapped, groaning and shaking her head with a sigh, "Why are we even here with him?" She motioned towards Finnick.

The sand-colored fox raised an eyebrow, "You talk as if I wasn't here," He shook his head, "And, for your information, I asked Nick to meet me here because I have some interesting news for you."

Judy's mood seemed to switch to a happy one, yet she remained skeptical and folded her arms over her chest, "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Yeah, Finnick," Nick turned his attention back to the topic at hand, "What did you get us?"

Finnick smiled and reached into his jacket, looking around slightly before pulling out an envelop that he handed to Nick, who quickly hid it in his own jacket before he or Judy could even look at what was inside it.

"What's that?" Judy tried to reach into Nick's jacket to retrieve the envelops, only to have the fox pushing her hand away before she could, "Hey!"

"Not here," Nick whispered, his voice suddenly serious. The abrupt change in mood had Judy retracting onto her seat and nodding.

"If anyone asks, you didn't get that from me," Finnick raised an eyebrow at the cops, "Got it?"

Nick just winked in response as he took out his wallet from his pocket, "How much do I owe you?"

Finnick held out his hand, "Nothing."

Nick tilted his head, "What?"

Finnick stared blankly ahead as he reached for his sunglasses and put them on despite the darkness of the night outside. "You two are already making me a favor by doing this."

Judy and Nick exchanged confused glances, "What?", the fox repeated.

"Let's just say that I too want those who murdered Ray behind bars," Finnick muttered, and without looking at the cops, he swirled around and left the bar in hurried steps.

"What did he mean by that?" Judy asked, nose twitching.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Believe me, neither do you," Nick said as he hastened to stand up and took Judy by her head, urging her to do the same by pulling her out of her stool. She almost lost her balance as Nick quickly pulled her out of the bar, but as confused as she was, she decided it was best to let him take the lead that time.

* * *

"Mind to explain what's going on now?" Judy asked as she and Nick got into their car, earning a few mischievous glances from those around them who saw the couple together.

Nick began driving into the street, eager to leave that neighborhood as soon as possible, before he began talking, "Alright, I asked Finnick to get me as much information as he could about Steve, Coy, and that club Ray told us about."

Judy gasped, "Without consulting me?"

Nick glared at her, "As if you'd let me ask him for help if I told you I wanted to."

She opened her mouth, but closed it without saying anything and folded her arms, "I just don't think he's the most reliable source we could find." She muttered under her breath.

"I'm not saying we have to believe everything that comes from Finnick, but without him, we'd have basically no clue to follow now. I thought it didn't hurt to ask for a little more help, you know. But discussing this in that bar would be like signing our death sentence if the wrong mammal overheard us."

Judy gulped, wrapping her hand around her neck.

"Here," Nick reached into his jacket where he'd put the envelop Finnick had given him once they stopped at a red light and handed it to Judy, "Open it. Let's see what he got us."

Judy took the envelop in her hands and looked at it skeptically, half expecting confetti to blow up in her face as she opened it; but she was glad when it turned out to be just a regular envelop with a few papers inside it.

"So?" Nick tried to peek at what she was holding as he took hold of the driving wheel again once the light turned green.

"It's… Pictures." Judy frowned, flipping through the papers she had in her hand.

"What kind of pictures?"

"Pictures of Coy," She said, slightly disturbed to be looking at those knowing the way the racoon depicted in them had been murdered. "Just… Regular pictures." She tilted her head, confused as to how Finnick thought any of those could serve as a clue for their case.

"What do you mean by 'regular'?"

"Just… Regular," Judy shrugged, "There's a picture of him in a club, one of him in an alley, one of him in a bus stop… I think this one is a park…"

Suddenly, the car came to an abrupt stop and the pictures flew from Judy's hands with the impact, the seatbelt being the only reason why the bunny wasn't hurled forward as well.

"Nick!" She yelled at the fox, trying to recover her composure after the shock was gone, "What in-"

"Let me see those pictures!" He jumped from his seat and onto the car floor to recover the pictures that Judy had dropped. He fell over Judy, who was startled once again as she kicked and tried to get Nick away from her lap.

"Nick! What are you-"

"I've seen this! I've seen this before!" His hands were shaking, either from excitement or fear. Judy couldn't tell.

"Nick, what are you talking-"

Before she could finish her sentence, her phone rang. When she looked at the screen, she saw it was the ZPD calling for her. She pressed the green button and activated the speaker so that they both could hear the call.

"Officer Hopps, Wilde?" Clawhauser's voice came from the other side, "Can you hear me?"

"Sure do, Clawhauser!" Judy replied, "What's up?"

"You two need to come to the ZPD immediately!" He announced, "Chief Bogo said he has something important he needs to discuss with you! It's about Ray!"

Judy and Nick looked at each other with smiles on their faces, their previous hazards being momentarily forgotten upon the excitement that the news brought them.

"We're on our way, Clawhauser," Nick said and smiled fiercely, "On our way!"

* * *

Nick and Judy walked into the ZPD and towards Clawhauser. The cheetah turned to them with a smile, but it soon vanished in surprise when he saw the cops dressed up like two party animals ( **A/N: Pun not intended** ).

"Wow, you two look dazzling!" His mouth then made a knowing 'o' and he raised his eyebrows, "Did I interrupt a date, perchance?"

"What- no!" Judy replied, instinctively trying to lower her dress once again, "We were- This is just- We couldn't-"

Nick laughed at the rabbit's uneasiness, "It's fine, Clawhauser. We just didn't want to spend any time changing into our work attire. Time's running against us here!"

"Yeah, that!" Judy agreed, nodding enthusiastically, "You said chief Bogo had something important for us!"

"Oh, of course, of course!" Clawhauser replied, "He wants you to meet him at the lab! He's there with Dr. Hofstadter, just waiting for you two!"

"Thank you! Come on, Nick, let's go!" Judy jumped in excitement, grabbing the fox by the hand and pulling him in the lab's direction, much like he had done earlier with her when they had to exit the bar.

Clawhauser watched and laughed as the pair disappeared into the hallways of the ZPD. "Oh, those two," He shook his head.

* * *

"Chief Bogo, we're here," Judy announced as she slowly opened the door and made her way into the lab, Nick following her.

Chief Bogo and Dr. Hofstadter sat around a table with some documents in front of them and a laptop open, where the weasel typed furiously and didn't seem to have acknowledge that the cops had entered the room.

"Hopps, Wilde!" He greeted, but his expression changed in a pattern like that of Clawhauser's when he saw the pair walk in with the unusual clothing they were wearing. "Uh, were you two-"

"Never mind that," Judy sighed as they approached the chief, "We came here as soon as possible after Clawhauser called us. He said you had something important to tell us."

"Yes," Dr. Hofstadter answered, eyes never leaving the screen in front of her, "You see," The weasel turned to the pair and for the first time, a glimpse of surprise flung across her face, but she quickly dismissed it and went back to her serious self, "We found weasel fur on Ray's body."

"Weasel?"

"That means he wasn't killed by the same animals who killed Coy," Judy heaved, as she hoped that would be their next clue.

"But," The doctor continued, "The DNA found on his body matches with one DNA in our backlog."

Judy and Nick gasped simultaneously.

"Was it enough to run a profile?" Nick asked, hopeful.

"Yes," Dr. Hofstadter answered, "But you two should also check…" She paused as she typed something on her computer, changing it to loading screen before she turned it to the cops, "This."

Nick and Judy approached the computer, where a chart listed several crimes that had happened all around Zootopia.

"Invasion of private property, theft, fight, peace disturbance…" Nick listed them.

"Were these committed by the same weasel?"

"Yes, DNA sample number 985." Bogo nodded.

"But, as you can see," The doctor adjusted her glasses and pointed to the screen, "This criminal had never been involved in a murder before. Not even once. And now, he's the sole responsible for a hit-and-run."

" _Possible_ hit-and-run, doctor." Bogo remarked, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves now."

"You said it yourself, sir," She replied, "A coincidence is unlikely. And this weasel, although involved in several crimes, had never killed anyone. Until now, that is, and he killed someone who had just spoken to two cops. Coincidence? I think not."

The weasel spoke with such security that it was hard to doubt her words.

"But what does all of that mean?" Judy questioned, nose twitching.

"He'd been involved in several crimes. Now he killed someone who'd just said more than they should have." Nick pondered, hand on his chin, "If he's part of a scheme, then he just got promoted to hitman."

"Exactly," Hofstadter almost smiled.

"You mean to tell me that Ray was murdered by a hitman?"

"Most likely, yes."

"But, I don't get it," Judy shook her head, "I mean, hitmen kill those who someone else wanted dead. Why would someone want Ray dead? He had no criminal records and didn't owe anyone anything, as far as we know. He even said he didn't get involved with the mammals his brother got involved with."

"Yeah, but he had just talked to us cops." Nick looked down at her with a serious expression. "Sometimes, sharing more than you should is already enough to make you a target."

Hofstadter nodded, "Someone didn't like that he shared what he knew with you cops."

"Some _weasel_ didn't like it, it seems," Nick added, "They wouldn't have worried about it if what Ray told us wasn't something they wanted hidden. Trust me, those mammals don't risk being caught by murdering someone unless they really are worth killing. Something that raccoon told us was meant to be kept a secret, and he paid for not keeping it."

"But he didn't tell us anything that extraordinary, did he?" Judy recalled their conversation, "He didn't even mention any names. He just told us that Coy was somewhat a troublemaker, that he owed someone something, that he used to go this club…"

"He did mention one name…" Nick tapped his fingers on the table as the mammals around him gave him a puzzled look, "The crimson beast."

Judy's eyes widened.

"That's the one concrete thing he told us." Nick's eyebrows furrowed, "The one clue we have."

Judy tried to follow his train of thought. "So, whoever it was that killed him…"

Bogo chimed in, "They were probably related to that club, yes."

Judy sighed, "Well, that isn't much. But I guess we already have a start now."

"Wait- the profile!" Nick jumped up, "You said you were able to run a profile with the DNA you found!"

"We were!" Hofstadter nodded and turned to the screen again, typing as she spoke, "This technology is still in its infancy, so take this profile with a pinch of salt, but this is as accurate as it can get right now. Remember that DNA samples do not account for things such as scars or any other external modification to the body. As far as we know, this… This is our Mr. 985."

She turned the screen to the cops, where a sketchy depiction of a male, scrawny weasel had been drawn by a computer program.

Nick frowned before he gasped and jumped back. The three other mammals stared at the fox as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pictures Finnick had given him earlier, frantically flipping through them until he found the one he had in mind and smiled.

"Nick!" Judy poked his arm, "What is it?"

"This!" He handed her the picture. It seemed to be rather old, and it depicted Coy sitting by a bar with a cigarette on his hands. By his side, sat a weasel. He had a much more disheveled fur than the one in the drawing had, but aside from that, they were similar.

Judy's eyebrows went up in excitement.

"This is our weasel!" She nodded as she handed Bogo the picture so that the chief could investigate it too, "Who would have thought Finnick would be useful in the end?"

"It certainly does look a lot like what the profile shows," Bogo said, "I believe it's worth a shot. Who is this?"

"That… We still have to figure out." Judy's excitement diminished, but Nick's smile remained unfazed.

"On the contraire, chief. We already know who that is," Nick smiled as he reached for the picture Bogo returned him, "It's Coy's old 'friend', Steve. Apparently, the two of them had some business together. If you know what I mean."

Judy's jaw dropped with the information Nick had kept from her until that moment. "You mean, Steve, the guy Finnick told us about, is the one who killed Coy?"

"Exactly, Carrots." Nick nodded with a smug smile on his face. "I guess they weren't such good friends as Finnick thought they were after all, hum?"

"Well, great job you two," Bogo congratulated them, "Now we have someone to look for."

"And the search starts right away." Nick added, to which Judy happily nodded.

* * *

The gashes in her wrists were still fresh and open, as they had barely begun to scar. Lydia washed her hands in hopes that it would keep infections away. She highly doubted Sheen ever washed his hands before he shoved his claws up her skin.

"Hey there, honey," His voice called from behind and she took the deepest breath she could to keep her blood from boiling inside her body, without much success.

"Don't… Call me that," She groaned as she turned around to face him, forced smile on her face. She knew her hatred for him made him happy and if faking happiness made him less excited, she'd do just that. But they both knew the true feelings underneath. "Hey."

"Why aren't you ready yet? We're going to open soon. If you're not there by the time the clients come in, you know what happens."

She frowned and waved her hands to get them dry, "I know, ok? I'm just washing my hands. Not that it makes that much of a difference in this stupid dirty-"

Before Lydia could finish her sentence, he grabbed her chin and forced her mouth closed.

"Watch your tongue, before you end up with no tongue at all. Get it?"

Her pupils went small and her heart began pounding inside her chest as she tried to nod over the tight grip he had on her chin. He grinned with that stupid smile of his, and it grew wider once he saw the fear take over her eyes.

"Now go get ready, before you ruin my good mood," He cooed and let her go, placing a kiss on her cheek and winking at her before he turned around.

Lydia took a deep breath and felt one of her nails bending back painfully where her fingertips gripped the ceramic sink. She stuck her tongue out at him once he had her back on her and straightened up her shirt as she walked up to the bathroom and closed the door so that she could change into her working attire.

On the second she closed the bathroom door behind her, Steve came into view.

"Hey, there, chief! Getting ready for another day of work?" He greeted the orange fox.

"I'm already ready, Steve. I'm always one step ahead." He said, lightning up a cigarette, "Unlike you. You should have come back an hour ago."

He blew the smoke on the weasel's face, "I'm sorry for being late, chief, but I think you'll find that my time out was of incredible value for you."

Sheen smiled and raised an eyebrow. "You've been full of good news recently, that's a first. What else you got for me tonight?"

"Well, I happened to find more about the cops who are trying to stand in our way… Such as their names."

Sheen knew from the weasel's voice that there was more to it than that.

"And…?"

"It just so happens that the fox's name is one that may ring some bells if you have a good memory."

Sheen's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Well, his name just happens to be _Nick Wilde_."

Overhearing everything from inside the bathroom, Lydia fell to the floor in shock as Sheen let out a weak, mischievous laugh.


	21. It begins

**We begin to look at the past now.**

* * *

 _"Goodie?"_

 _Rick stood still, too distracted to realize that someone was calling him._

 _"Goodie?" Coy called once more._

 _When the fox didn't reply on the second time, the raccoon reached for a half-empty can of beer across the table, getting a scowl from the weasel sitting beside him._

 _"Goodie!" He called as he threw the can on the fox._

 _"I was going to drink that, you know!" Steve complained simultaneously._

 _Rick snapped back to reality when the can hit his nape with a thud, leaving the skin there pounding; but without any major pain. He looked around, confused, and saw the raccoon waving at him. He shook his head and walked to the table, looking down._

 _"You called?"_

 _"Yah don't seem to be enjoying yourself, boy," Coy spoke as he took his cigarette to his mouth, "Aren't yah having fun?"_

 _If Rick were to be honest, no, he wasn't. He never liked parties; the strong smell of alcohol and smoke, the loud music that felt like it could crash his skull at any time, mammals around him acting in an… uncivilized way, to say the least._

 _"Sure, I am," He forced a smile, "I was just… distracted."_

 _"Come on," Steve spoke and spit on the floor before opening another can of beer, "You're always like that, staring off at the empty like a retard. You better not be like that when we go into the field."_

 _Rick gulped and looked aside when the weasel shot him a menacing glance. "D-Don't worry. I'll be good."_

 _"You better."_

 _"Cut it, Steve," Coy let out a breathless laugh and turned to Rick, coughing as smoke left his mouth, "You heard Sheen, we need to make our pal feel at home!"_

 _"We need to make Goodie feel at home, blah, blah, blah," Steve whispered, mimicking Sheen in a mocking way, "He has never done anything for the team."_

 _"Ignore him, Goodie. You're one of us now! Come on, join us, have a drink," Coy patted the chair beside him, inviting Rick to sit down, but the fox bit his lip and shook his head._

 _"Thank you, but I don't drink, and I was thinking about calling it a night-"_

 _"Call it a night? Come on!" Coy spoke, and Rick could notice that he tried to disguise his southern accent. "All you did was stay there and just look at- Oh," He trailed off and smiled when he looked at the direction where Rick had been looking to._

 _Coy laughed and patted Rick on the back. Rick forced a smile and tried to laugh along. He didn't realize what was so funny, but put it down to the raccoon's drunkenness._

 _"So, alcohol's not your thing, hum? Perhaps you're more into… Some other kinds of fun."_

 _Rick raised an eyebrow, but he didn't have time to question anything as Coy immediately turned to the waitress that he noticed had gotten Rick's attention._

 _"Hey, Lydia!"_

 _"Wait, what?" Rick's cheeks began warming up again when the vixen, dressed up in a short blue dress and holding a tray under her arm with her other hand holding an open bottle, approached them._

 _"You called, Scumbag?" She said, looking at his glass. Noticing that it wasn't empty yet, she knew that he hadn't called her for a drink. And her expression showed just how not excited she was to hear what he wanted._

 _Coy reached for Rick's wrist and brought him closer to them. "Goodie here was totally checking you out!"_

 _Steve spat out his drink and Rick gasped, his cheeks heating up once more. He tried to squirm away from Coy's grasp, but he found himself frozen in place when she looked at him with annoyance._

 _"W-What?" Rick hiccupped, "I wasn't, I just-"_

 _"Don't be ashamed," Coy smiled smugly, "I know you were looking at her, such a beautiful lady, isn't she?" Coy indicated Lydia with his other hand as if she were a prize he'd won and was proud of._

 _He then let go of Rick, and in one swift move he reached for the bottle in Lydia's hand, taking it from her and taking a sip before he held her by the wrist and carelessly pushed her toward Rick. She stumbled and almost fell over when she collided with Rick's chest, but he quickly looped his arms around her waist so that she wouldn't fall as her hands flew to his shoulders to help hold herself up; their eyes meeting for less than a second._

 _As soon as he realized what had happened, he loosened up his grip on her to let her go, but she didn't move away. She stayed there, hands on his shoulders, facing down. He was confused and blushing, she just seemed annoyed._

 _"Goodie, Lydia. Lydia, Goodie." Coy laughed. "Or Rick. Whichever one you prefer. But I do think Goodie suits you, Goodie."_

 _Rick stepped backwards to let her go, straightening up his shirt, "Coy, I don't-"_

 _"Listen," The vixen spoke up for the first time, "If you don't want a drink, please don't call me to waste my time. Unlike some mammals, I actually care about getting my work done."_

 _She didn't sound angry, or mad. She just sounded annoyed. Rick also noticed that she wasn't addressing him, but Coy._

 _She turned around to walk away, but Coy smiled smugly._

 _"Sheen said Goodie is a special member."_

 _Rick looked at him, wondering what that statement meant. Whatever it was, it got the vixen to stop in her tracks, let out a sigh and turn around again, walking up to them once more. Only this time, she addressed Rick. Standing in front of him, she shrugged and lowered her head._

 _Rick froze, looking from Coy to Lydia and from Lydia to Coy numerous times, trying to understand what was happening. Steve just watched the scene, way too amused for Rick's liking; while Coy never stopped smiling._

 _"My dear friend," Coy said as he pointed to Lydia again when he noticed that Rick wasn't getting it, "This lovely lady is part of our team, much like yourself now. And she'll do what Sheen tells her to do."_

 _Rick's confused frown remained. "Yeah. And so, will we. He's our boss."_

 _Coy laughed, and it began annoying Rick as he didn't get anything that happened there._

 _"You were checking her out, I know you were," Coy looked at Rick and winked, "And Sheen told us to do anything that would make you happy. Her included."_

 _Rick remained confused for a few seconds, but his eyes widened and his heart began pounding when the raccoon's implications sank in. He looked to his feet and put his hands behind his back. If his face heated up before, now it was on fire._

 _"So…" Coy spoke softly as he ran his finger across the border of his glass, "Goodie, what'll be?"_

 _Rick felt his stomach boiling up. Long before, he'd gotten that same feeling of disgust building up inside him when his father treated his mother like they were treating that vixen. And just like before, he felt powerless. Until he remembered he wasn't a kid anymore._

 _He could do something this time._

 _Without thinking much, Rick held the vixen's hand and began pulling her across the room, trying to ignore Coy's cheering as he walked with her to the back door, dodging the drunken party animals on their way._

 _"You go, Goodie!" Coy laughed breathlessly and raised his glass when the foxes disappeared in the crowd._

 _"Humph," Steve sank on his seat, "I don't get why that, that… Goodie gets such a special treatment and we don't. He hasn't even done anything!"_

 _Coy shook his head, "You don't get it, do you?"_

 _Steve tilted his head. "Get what?"_

 _Coy took a sip of his drink before answering, "Foxes with orange fur are very, very rare. It could be useful for Sheen to have… Someone else to put the blame on."_

 _Steve thought for a while, but once he put two and two together, his frown disappeared and he laughed loudly._

 _"A toast, for the clueless fox!" He cheered as he raised his glass._

 _..._

 _Lydia followed Rick without thinking much until they reached the back door of the club, which lead to a supply closet full of food in boxes, extra lamps, cleaning supplies and a freezer. Once they were both inside, Rick let her go and closed the door and slammed his back against it, glad to be away from the loud music and the awful smells._

 _"Thank God," Rick sighed, "I don't think I could endure much more of that."_

 _The vixen stood close to him as she tried to straighten up her dress that had gotten cramped when they were running there. "Yeah, whatever. Look, you better know I don't care for what Sheen says, there are things I won't do! I'm not his toy, neither yours or anyone else's!"_

 _Rick wiped his forehead as he looked at her with a confused look. "What?"_

 _"I just want to get this over with, but I have my limits. Sheen can't control me, not like that." She stood upright, hands clenched on the sides of her body and then she shrugged, "Come on, what do you want to do?"_

 _"What- Oh," Rick looked aside as his face began heating up for what must have been the hundredth time that day, "Listen, uh, Lydia, was it? I'm not going to do anything with you. I just wanted to get away from them."_

 _She blinked in surprise, her expression smoothing for the first time that day, "But… Sheen would be okay with anything you did."_

 _"Yeah, it doesn't mean I should." Rick stated, as if it were obvious. "Besides, I don't want anything from you. I don't even know you. I was just… Never mind."_

 _"You were… What?" She questioned and gave a step back._

 _"I was just, heh, I was just looking at you. You- You're beautiful- I mean, yeah, I just looked at you for a second and Coy got ideas. I'm sorry."_

 _"It's alright," She sighed, and a glance of a smile dance on her face before her mouth went back to being a straight, thick line, "I'm used to it. That Coy… Well, hum, thank you for getting me out of there… Goodie?"_

 _"Name's Rick," He said, but then shrugged, "But they call me Goodie, heh. Sheen gave that nickname to me."_

 _"Well, thank you, Rick." She smiled fully this time, and he blinked in surprise, eyes wide. "I'm glad I won't have to punch you in the face, then." She waved her fist at him, in a half-serious, half-joking voice._

 _He held out his hands and smiled awkwardly, "I'm glad."_

 _"Yeah," She crossed her arms and let out a small laugh, "So, you're a part of our team now."_

 _He nodded, "Yeah, just got in."_

 _"Well, welcome to hell."_

 _He couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious. Given the situation they were in, it could easily be either of those._

 _"I better go back to work. But I'll definitely avoid Coy for the rest of the night, otherwise I'll be getting into some fights."_

 _Rick nodded again as the vixen went to the door and exited the room._

 _"See you around," She said before leaving._

 _He stood still, smiling, with his cheeks still warm. "I hope so," He whispered._

* * *

"Nick Wilde? You mean, Goodie's brother?" Sheen laughed again as he leaned on the table, "You mean that shifty low-life is now on the other side of the law? The ZPD is even more desperate than I thought."

"He's been a cop for a while now." Steve shrugged and approached his boss, "Apparently, he was the one who solved the Bellwether case. I wouldn't doubt him much, chief. He's got some talent under that badge." He pointed out carefully.

"Oh, please," Sheen rolled his eyes and huffed, "He's as gullible as his brother. There's no need to worry over this. He didn't get us when we were with the sheep, he won't get us now."

"Hum, well," The weasel pointed out carefully, "Don't forget there's also the rabbit. They seem to always work together."

Sheen slowly turned to Steve and raised an eyebrow, just expecting for the weasel to tell him that he was joking, but he never did. Somehow, he was serious.

"A bunny cop and an old con-artist fox work together. That sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke." He let out a breathless laugh and folded his arms. "We'll keep an eye out. But we'll keep working. No reason to stop if there isn't a real threat. We've had enough delays as it is."

Steve shrugged in a way that seemed to show that he wasn't really convinced but just turned away, leaving the room. Sheen looked down and tapped his fingers on the table with a thoughtful frown on his face, lost in thoughts.

Lydia opened the bathroom door just a crack, through which she saw that Sheen had his back on her and seemed too focused to notice her. She opened the door slowly and just enough for her to pass by, afraid that it'd squeak and alert the other fox otherwise. In equally slow movements, she left the bathroom and began walking past Sheen.

However, before she could leave the room, he suddenly turned around and quickly grabbed her by the wrists, pushing her against the wall and pinning her arms to the side of her head. Her back hit the wall with a loud thud as she let out a yelp, the cuts on her wrists burning from the grip over them.

"Don't get any ideas, alright?" Sheen hissed face to face with her.

The vixen froze as she looked him in the eyes and breathed heavily, the pain and shock overcoming her ability to make out what was happening in that moment.

"What?" She cried out lowly, sinking slightly against the wall from the burning pain.

"Don't insult my intelligence, I know you heard us."

Lydia could count on the fingers of one hand how many times she'd seem him like that – raw emotion that seemed to be something akin with annoyance with a hint of threat on his voice as he stared into her eyes. It was almost like he could see every thought she'd ever had.

It scared her to death every time.

She looked away from him and sank even lower, arms stretching over her head as he held her hands in place, "I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Don't play innocent with me!" He yelled and gave a step back, pulling her up and forward until their eyes were mere inches apart so that she'd hear him as he whispered, "You know what the consequences would be. Or do I need to give you a reminder?"

She gulped and her eyes began getting watery, her ears folding back as she shook her head. Her helpless appearance, however, did little to nothing to soothe the figure holding her.

"Sheen, please; what could I even do?" She sniffed and tried to dry her eyes with her shoulder since he wouldn't let go of her hands, attempting to recover what little courage she had left in her, although it was hard to seem strong when her very voice revealed her helplessness.

"I don't know. What could you do, Lydia?" He asked back in seriousness. "After all, I already know what you _would_ do given the chance."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Keep your part of the deal, I'll keep mine." She looked up at him, taking a deep breath and straightening herself up. She had determination in her eyes, and that seemed to convince him enough to finally let go, the gashes on her wrists immediately cooling down and relieving her pain.

"You better," He whispered and turned his back on her, "Now go to work. It's almost time."

Without saying anything else, she left the room in quick steps, desperate to get away from him as soon as possible; tears still pricking the corners of her eyes.

As for Sheen, he stood behind and slouched down on his chair, letting out a huge sigh; as bitter memories of the past came back to him – as well as very present worries.

* * *

It was almost ten o'clock when Nick walked into his apartment, bag in hand, and the first thing he saw in the darkness was the silhouette of his brother sitting on the couch with a bundle on his lap. The faint city lights coming from outside the window provided just enough light for him to see the outline of Robin sleeping against his father's chest, embraced in his arms.

Nick walked past them in slow, quick steps so that he wouldn't wake any of them up, but that happened just before he could get to the kitchen door.

"Nick?" Rick called from behind and yawned as Nick reached for the light switch and turned on the light from the kitchen to give them some light without it being too bright on the sleeping foxes.

"Hey," Nick said softly and approached the couch, "Sorry for waking you up."

Rick rubbed his eyes, Robin still asleep on his lap. "No, it's okay, I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyway." He said as he stood up with his son in his arms, "What time is it?"

"Ten or something," Nick answered as Rick approached him and they both entered the kitchen. "Why?"

"I have to give Robin his medicine now," He sighed and shook the cub on his lap just enough for him to open his eyes and yawn, sleepily trying to grab back onto his father when he felt himself being let go and put on the floor, "Buddy, wake up."

Robin's legs didn't get to firm themselves as he just laid down on the floor and curled up into a ball, immediately going back to sleep there and then. Rick laughed and caressed his head, Nick watching the scene the whole time.

"How's he?" He found himself asking.

"Not that well, I'm afraid," Rick heaved as he walked up to the fridge where he had left a baby bottle with juice in it, quickly going back to retrieve his sleeping cub from the floor, "He's had a burning fever all day, and he's been shaking, and he threw up basically everything he ate. But well, that's what the doctor said would happen. I'm just scared that'll make him too weak."

Nick nodded in silence and watched as Rick comforted Robin in his arms, trying to wake him up. As soon as yellow eyes opened, Rick pressed Robin's cheeks to open his mouth and carefully yet quickly laid a pill on the end of the cub's tongue, taking the bottle to his mouth before he could spit it out.

Robin fidgeted a little in protest, but it wasn't long until he tasted the sugary drink and began suckling on the bottle peacefully, closing his eyes once more as tiny hands flew up to bottle and held it in place.

"He's going to be alright," Nick smiled as he laid the bag in his hand on the table, "I brought you guys some food, but I guess you won't want it now."

Rick smiled at him, "Thank you. I could use some food after I tuck him in. Will you join us for dinner?"

Rick seemed hopeful and joyful, up to when Nick shook his head.

"I have to go back to the ZPD soon."

"Now?" Rick looked out the window as in to make sure it was nighttime, "But it's night."

Nick blinked in surprise. He hadn't heard that 'worried older brother' tone in quite some time.

"Crime doesn't sleep, Rick," Nick shrugged with a slick smile. "But I have some time before I have to go back. Anything you two need?"

Rick shook his head with a smile, "No, thank you, we're alright." As soon as he said that, Robin shivered in his arms. "I mean, I think this guy could use a blanket. And honestly, I think I could use some coffee."

"Me too," Nick nodded and smiled.

* * *

Soon enough, the brothers were sitting across each other on the floor in the dark in front of the window in the living room, watching the world outside. Robin was curled up in a blanket on Rick's lap, sound asleep as his father rocked their bodies together in a soothing motion.

"When did you learn to make coffee?" Nick asked as he took a sip of the drink his brother had prepared them minutes before.

Rick smiled, "Believe me, when you become a parent, any help to stay awake all night is welcomed. It was either learning to make coffee or learning how to function with only three hours of sleep a day."

"Well, that's a progress," Nick let out a laugh, "When we were younger you couldn't cook anything. Remember when you burned our lunch and we had to have leftover pancakes from breakfast?"

Rick laughed along, "And you thought that having breakfast for lunch was too weird, so we called it 'brunch'! Boy, I had forgotten about that! Good times."

"Yeah," Nick sighed, "They were good."

Silence fell upon them as both foxes reminisced.

"Having brunch was the first time I smiled after mom died." Nick whispered matter-of-factly with a weak smile. "You kept trying to make me smile, but I just wouldn't. Until that day."

Rick looked at him, slightly surprised, "You remember that?"

Nick nodded and looked at Rick, the city lights reflecting on his eyes.

"Remember when you tried to make me laugh by juggling with my toys? And then you slipped and my choo-choo train fell on your head?"

"If I remember that? I still have the scar," Rick smiled and took his hand to his forehead, lifting his fur and feeling the little bump of skin he had there from the scarred wound, "All of that, and you didn't even smile."

"Hey, I was sad," Nick defended himself, "But now that I think about it, it was pretty funny." He let out a giggle.

"Good to know my pain is amusing to you," Rick nodded.

"Indeed."

They looked at each other with smiles, which soon faded as they looked aside and took deep breaths, becoming lost in thought. There was a comfortable tension surrounding them, almost like a soft fog that blurred their sight, but not enough to blind them.

"Did you ever find out what happened to dad?" Nick asked, eyes glued on the window.

Rick looked at him, snapping out of his thoughts, and he expected Nick to look back at him, but he didn't. He kept looking at the window as if he wasn't there, much like a certain vixen had done long time before…

"Not really," He sighed, "Truth be told, I never really… Tried to find out. I didn't care at all. I was just glad he was gone."

Nick frowned and looked at Rick, who was looking down at the cub on his arms to avoid his brother's judgmental gaze.

Rick knew it wasn't Nick's fault that he felt the way he did. He was only five. The age where every boy thinks their father is super hero and refuses to admit there might be something wrong with them. Still, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable whenever their father was mentioned. For he was older, the fantasies and illusions of a child had already left him. He knew very well that their father was anything, but a hero.

"He was a jackass, Nick," Rick groaned.

"Yeah, he was," Nick sighed, "But I was always curious to find out what happened to him."

"Doesn't matter," Rick shook his head, "All he did was make our lives a living hell."

"I guess," Nick took a deep breath as he looked to Robin, "You seem to have learned how to parent just fine without a father, though."

Rick smiled again and caressed Robin's head, "It wasn't that hard, I just needed to do the exact opposite our father did." He laughed weakly, although his tone showed no humor, "Mom's advices, on the other hand, were pretty useful."

Nick looked down, "She was great."

"Yeah, she was."

Nick sniffed, "I miss her."

"Me too."

Silence surrounded the room again.

"Hey, Rick?"

"Hum?"

"We haven't gotten around to talk ever since, you know, Judy found you."

"I guess not," Rick's breath caught on his throat, and for a split second, his heart ached. He knew that moment would come. Which didn't mean he was any ready for it.

"What do you want to know?" He slowly looked at Nick, shadows dancing on his face.

Nick thought for a moment. "What happened to Robin's mother?"

Rick's eyes widened, and his mind went blank, for he expected Nick to ask something completely different.

"Rick?"

"She…" He gulped, "She… Well, it's a long story."

"Sum it up." Nick demanded.

Rick looked Nick in the eyes, slightly startled.

"Well," He sighed, "Long story short, she left."

Nick blinked his eyes and remained silent.

"I mean, we… We were never 'together'," Rick continued, as if he suddenly realized that he did want to tell Nick, "But… I liked her, for a while. Gosh, her beauty, it just… Enchanted me. And she was just so, brave. And her eyes, just… Wow." He looked up dreamingly and then scoffed, coming back to reality; "Hum, I liked her, I guess, but she didn't like me. Not that way."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "And then you two had a kid."

Rick felt heat coming to his cheeks, "That doesn't mean she liked me. We… We just kind of became friends, and then things happened, and then… Look, I was young and in love, she was young and looking for some fun. We had different ends in mind, but the means coincided. And then, well, Robin."

"I see," Nick smiled, "Still can't believe you named him Robin."

Rick looked down at his son again. "Doing the wrong thing, for the right reason."

Nick nodded. "That kind of sums up our lives, doesn't it? The Robin Hood story."

"Minus the happy ending," Rick sighed but then gasped, as if he immediately regretted saying that.

Nick looked at Rick. "Meaning?"

Rick looked away from Nick, "Well, my life has been no fairytale."

"I get you."

"You seem to be doing well, though," Rick forced a smile, "I mean, you have your job as a cop, and you have friends, and you're helping people now!"

Nick smiled, but it faded soon. "It has only recently been like that."

Silence reigned once more. They both knew what they wanted to talk about, but for their own reasons, they also wanted to keep things in the past.

"What happened to you? After you left me in the orphanage?" Nick's voice cracked at the memories.

He could hear Rick gulping after that question.

"I, I tried to make some money, find a job or something. It didn't really work. I'd manage to get some, and if I was lucky it was just enough to get by, but it was hard. It didn't get any easier after Robin was born, but well, I wasn't going to give him up."

Nick frowned, "You gave me up."

"I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice."

Nick opened his mouth to ask anything else, but his brother's sentence hit him harder than he thought it would. Seeing Rick's eyes shining with unshed tears made it worse. He took a deep breath and looked down, watching as his faint shadow moved with him.

The silence was broken when Nick's phone rang, slightly startling the foxes. Including the youngest one, who fidgeted in his sleep. Nick reached out for it and wiped his eyes, checking that it was a message from Judy.

 _I think we just got something new. Come to the ZPD, now._

* * *

 **This fic is becoming harder to write as the plot goes along. There has been so many changes already, and I rewrote this chapter so many times. It's just funny to me that this is way different than what I first planned it to be. Well, I hope that turned out to be a good choice.**

 **Thanks for reading, see yah next chapter!**


	22. The call

**I hadn't made a chapter this long in quite a while... Hope it turns out alright.**

* * *

 _Rick went down the flight of stairs that led to Sheen's office, looking for the fox whose fur resembled his. Rick braced himself as he walked, tail between his legs. No matter how much time passed, that place always made him shiver._

 _"Sheen? Sheen, are you here? I need to talk to you about-"_

 _He stopped talking once he pushed the door open and saw that the office was empty. Rick sighed and closed the door, going up the first two steps before he stopped in his tracks when his ears picked up a noise coming from behind him, in the office._

 _Rick turned around and entered the office again. He was sure he'd heard something in there, despite not seeing anyone there just a few seconds before. He stood by the door in silence._

 _"Hum, hello?" He called as he knocked on the door, but no reply came._

 _He thought of going back up, but the noise echoed on his mind and kept him there._

 _"Hello? Anyone there?" He called again as he walked in the office. Sheen would probably be angry if he saw Rick entering the place without permission, but he'd be thankful if Rick happened to catch someone spying around uninvited._

 _Rick then heard a raspy breath coming from behind the desk and jumped, landing in an attack position; his ears going up and his tail twitching as he showed off his claws. He blinked his eyes and straightened himself before running to the desk to see who was there; the sight in front of him leaving him speechless._

 _"Get out of here!" Lydia yelled when she saw him standing there; one hand covering her face and the other supporting her weight as she sat up on the floor._

 _Rick reached out for her, but his hands stilled in mid-air when he realized he didn't know what to do._

 _"W-What happened here?"_

 _The vixen didn't reply, she just remained still and hissed, her eyes scrunching closed. It was when Rick's eyes wandered around and he saw the red liquid smeared on the floor; the same liquid that dripped from her face and soiled her hands and arms._

 _Her face was bleeding._

 _"Oh, my!" Rick hastened to knee down beside her, his hands fluttering around her without actually touching the vixen, "Are you alright? What happened with you?"_

 _"Nothing!" She yelled at him, turning her back on him as she attempted to stand up, but remained on the floor, "Leave me alone, Goodie."_

 _"You're bleeding!" He exclaimed, giving a few steps back on his knees._

 _"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," She rolled her eyes. "Go away."_

 _Rick shook his head and stood up, walking around the vixen until he was standing behind her back. She let out a gasp when she felt his arms snake around her torso, sharply turning her head and meeting his gaze when he placed his head over her shoulder._

 _"What are you-" She began asking as she attempted to get away from him, but stilled once she realized he was helping her stand up. With a bitter frown on her face she accepted his help as he sat her down in the office chair._

 _"Wait here," He told her as he walked away, but she barely paid attention as she still had her eyes closed and was too focused on the burning pain irradiating from her face._

 _It was only when the sound of water running caught her attention and she opened her eyes. Her sight was blurry from her eyes being closed for so long, and when it came back to focus she saw Rick standing in front of her, cloth in hand._

 _"Uh, what do you think you're doing?" She asked, using both her hands to sit up straight in the chair; and for the first time Rick could see her wound._

 _She had three deep cuts of similar size, one beside the other, right above her right eye. They went down to her cheek, blood dripping from the shredded skin and soaking her face fur in warm blood. Now that Rick had gotten close to her, the metallic and distinct smell of blood was almost overwhelming._

 _The sight made him gasp, and she took her hand back to her wound, covering it again._

 _"Helping you," He replied at last, and attempted to reach for the hand she had over her eye, "Just let me-"_

 _"I don't want your help," She used her heels to roll back in the chair and then stood up, "I'm fine!"_

 _However, she didn't get to take three steps before the dizziness due to the blood loss got to her and she fell over on the carpet._

 _"Lydia!" He yelped as he ran to her and knelt by her side, helping her to get on all fours. He attempted to help her sit up, but noticed she seemed to be trying to remain like that; as if she was fighting against his help, "Lydia?"_

 _He then realized she seemed to be crying, very faintly._

 _"Leave me alone," She said, voice stuttering, "I don't want your help."_

 _"You don't want it, but you need it," He said with some authority in his voice, using her quick distraction to sit her up on the floor. She attempted to push him away, but was too weak to do so; her paw barely touching his chest._

 _Lydia then sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against him for support; which he took as a sign of defeat._

 _"I'm just going to clean it, alright? That's a deep cut." He whispered as he wrapped an arm around her and held the cloth with the other hand. He waited for her to nod and took the cloth to her face, softly cleaning up around the wound. Soon, the cloth was painted red._

 _"Now stay still," He sighed as he took the cloth away from her face, "This might sting."_

 _The vixen closed her eyes, hissing when the warm, wet cloth hit the open wound on her face. Rick expected another witty remark to come, but she stayed in silence and let him clean the exposed flesh. Until he accidentally used a bit too much strength and her body leaped, her hand flying over to slap his hand away from her face in a quick reflection._

 _"Sorry!" He exclaimed, dropping the cloth on the floor._

 _"It's… It's alright. It just… It burns," She sighed, hand over her wound._

 _He sighed before picking the cloth up._

 _"I know. Sorry... But it's not done yet. You… You lost a lot of blood," He looked around at the blood-stained floor. "What happened here?"_

 _She gulped and sniffed, her face still burning, as she forced a creepy smile._

 _"Sheen had one too many drinks," Although her face depicted a smile, Rick could hear that she was in fact on the verge of tears._

 _He frowned as the implications of her words sank in, sorrow followed by fear._

 _"Where's he?" He looked around as his heart began beating fast._

 _"He went out with Coy," She told him, "I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon."_

 _Rick sighed in relief._

 _"Alright," He nodded and smiled at her to try to comfort her. "Here," He said as he gave her the cloth and helped her stand up again and sat her on the chair once more, "Wait for me here. Don't try to walk, I'll be right back. Hold the cloth over your face."_

 _He spoke the instructions as he walked backwards towards the door so that he was looking her in the face as he spoke. In doing so, he didn't notice he'd gotten to the stairs already and tripped, falling over and making the vixen giggle._

 _"Ow," He said as he stood up, slightly embarrassed, "Hum, yeah, anyway, I'll be right back!"_

 _Lydia shook her head and smiled as she watched him run up the flight of stairs, before scolding herself and going back to having a straight face, looking down at her feet and blushing slightly._

 _It didn't take long before Rick was back._

 _"What's that?" She asked, trying to see what it was with only one eye._

 _"Stuff," He said as he took the cloth away from her face and handed her a glass of water, which she took with a raised eyebrow, "Drink."_

 _Rick walked back to the bathroom to clean the cloth that was now covered in blood and fur. She shrugged and took the glass to her lips, but as soon as the liquid touched her mouth, she spat it out and stuck her tongue out._

 _"What's that?" She asked in disgust._

 _"That's water with salt and sugar." He replied as he came back, "Tastes bad but you have to drink it, come on."_

 _"What?" She analyzed the drink in her hands, "Why?"_

 _"Because you're dehydrated," He told her, "That's supposed to help you get back on your feet, now drink it."_

 _"Wow, and here I thought Sheen was my boss," She muttered under her breath and Rick rolled his eyes, but glared at her until she drank it all._

 _Rick nodded and took the empty glass from her, now reaching for a white towel he'd brought from the bathroom. He held it with both his hands, stretching the towel before he tore it in half and began undoing the fabric._

 _"What are you doing?" She raised her eyebrow, slightly startled._

 _"We need something to wrap around your wound," He told her as he turned to her, "Trust me, you don't want that to remain open. But the towel is too thick to use, so I'm trying to make it thinner."_

 _He looked at the shredded piece of yarn in his hands and then looked at her, as if asking permission. She nodded and closed her eyes, allowing him to wrap the towel around her face as if it were bandage. He tried his best to do it in a way that wouldn't cover her eye, and once it was ready and secure, he stepped back._

 _"There," He sighed, "That should do it."_

 _Lydia took her hand to her head, softly running her fingers over the towel and feeling the wound underneath. They stood in silence for what felt like an eternity before she sighed and scrunched her lips._

 _"Hey, hum," She gulped and looked up, as if it was hard for her to talk, "Good- I mean, Rick, right?"_

 _He nodded._

 _"Thank you," She said, voice barely a whisper, as she braced herself and looked up._

 _He blinked in surprise as he always did whenever she displayed the slightest signal of an emotion that wasn't anger, and then he smiled at her._

 _"You're welcome." He nodded and looked around. "I'm just going to fetch another cloth to clean up this mess, alright? You stay here."_

 _Lydia sat in the chair in silence as Rick wiped the floor clean of her blood. He wasn't looking at her, but if he had, he'd have wondered why she was watching him; and why she seemed so thoughtful as she did so._

 _"Hey, Rick?" She called._

 _He sat up on his knees on the spot he was cleaning and looked at her, "Yeah?"_

 _"Why'd you help me? Why'd you help me twice, even?"_

 _Rick stood still and looked down, "What, what else was I supposed to do? Just, stay there and do nothing while you needed help?"_

 _He was startled when she nodded doubtlessly, "Yeah, that's what Sheen would do, that's what anyone around here would do. Each to their own, Rick. It's our motto."_

 _He shook his head and went back to cleaning, "Well, I may be here, but it's not my motto."_

 _Lydia tilted her head, "This means nothing, you know?" She gulped and sat up straight, "You helped me because you wanted to, I never asked you to do it. I have no debt with you, don't expect anything from me."_

 _He let out a weak laugh, "Hum, I don't. I didn't help you because I expect anything in return, at all. To be honest, when you said, 'thank you'; that was already more than I thought I'd get."_

 _She blinked, "Meaning?"_

 _"Hum, I don't know," He shrugged, "You're always kind of a meanie to everyone."_

 _She gasped exaggeratedly, "Am not!"_

 _"Are too!" Despite the serious tone of the conversation, they knew that none of them were being serious in that moment. It let show when she let out the laugh she'd been holding and he followed suit, shaking his head._

 _However, the brief funny moment was ruined and back to its original tone when she looked at him with sorrow in her eyes and a small smile on her face._

 _"Your place isn't here, Rick."_

 _Rick tried to understand what she meant by that and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know, this is Sheen's office."_

 _"No," She shook her head, "Your place isn't here with us, you know. You're way too kind and too good to be here. Anyone else would have left me alone and taken pictures to laugh at my misery."_

 _Rick's expression changed and he bit his lip when he realized what she was saying._

 _"I get you. Honestly, I do. I'm not here because I want to. I, I need it. I, I kind of have someone waiting for me," He gulped and looked away from her. She squinted at him._

 _"Wait, you think I'm here because I want to?" She huffed, hurt in her voice._

 _She got even more hurt when he seemed surprised at her question._

 _"No?" He tilted his head. "That's why Coy and Steve and the others are here, I thought-"_

 _"I'm not like them!" She interrupted, now sounding both hurt and offended._

 _Rick got startled and almost fell over, but managed to regain his balance just in time._

 _"Oh, hum, okay," He shrugged, "Sorry, I didn't know that." He stayed in silence and took a deep breath, "So, you're here because you need too, hum?_

 _The question got Lydia to stand up from the chair, fighting the dizziness that almost made her fall over once more. Rick jumped up and ran to her to help her stay up, but she refused his help then and managed to stand on her own._

 _"Let's- Let's leave. I don't want to be here when Sheen gets back, and I have work to do." She walked to the door and shook her head._

 _"What?" He tilted his head and reached for her, "Lydia, what-"_

 _"Goodbye, Ri- Goodie," She rushed out and ran out of the office, finding it incredibly hard to stay up and not fall over as she ran up the stairs, leaving a confused Rick behind._

 _"Hum," He frowned, "G- Goodbye."_

* * *

"Wow," Nick breathed out when his eyes fell upon the bloody crowbar on the table.

"The DNA tests confirmed it," Dr. Hofstadter said matter-of-factly, once again unfazed by the gore sight they had in front of them, "The blood on it definitely belongs to Coy."

"So… I guess it's safe to say that this is what they used to smash his skull, hum?" Judy shivered, bracing herself at the thought of how much pain Coy must have endured in his last moments when the sight of his lifeless, destroyed body flashed back on her mind.

"Indeed," The doctor said, reaching for her tablet and accessing files about the case, "Well, most of the blood belongs to Coy, but there is also someone else's blood on it… And we found that it's fox blood."

Nick blinked in surprise, "Fox blood?"

"Did you find any fox fur on it as well?" Judy asked hopeful, "Was it orange?"; she asked before the doctor could even answer the first question.

"No, we didn't find any fur on it," The doctor sighed, turning the device off.

Judy sighed and her ears went down.

"But," Dr. Hofstadter smiled, "If I were to bet money on it, I'd say this is the fox whose fur we found on Coy's body. I sent the fur and the blood to be compared but the results won't come till tomorrow. But it seems like our 'crowbar artist' got into a fight against Coy with a bear, and a wolf; and when they failed to kill him in the fight, the fox came back to finish him off with this later. That would explain why the fatal blow to the head was more recent than the rest of the bruises on his body."

"Is there anyone else's blood on the crowbar?" Nick asked; hand on his chin, as if to confirm something he had on mind.

"No," The weasel shook her head and raised her eyebrow, for she seemed to be having the same thoughts as Nick, "Our investigation revealed that the bear and the wolf did not come back to the crime scene after the fight, only the fox did."

Judy looked back and forth from Nick to the weasel, trying to understand what the two of them were thinking, but failing, "Hum, so?"

"So…" Nick said, tapping his fingers on the table, "If someone wanted Coy dead, out of the three animals that were fighting with him prior to his death, the fox was the one that wanted to make sure he was indeed dead."

"Oh," Judy blinked in realization.

"Keep in mind that those are only guesses, Hopps, and we can't confirm any of them. It could be that the three of them wanted Coy dead and the fox was the chosen one for the dirty job, but it is also possible that the fox was the desperate one to see Coy dead."

"But it doesn't make sense," Judy sighed as she slouched down on a chair, "Why would the wolf and the bear bother to attack him but not care about him being dead? What other reason would they have to attack him, if not to kill him off? They didn't want to steal anything, there was no reason for the attack him like that if they didn't want him dead in the end."

"There are some pieces missing in this puzzle." Nick nodded.

"Well," Dr. Hofstadter looked at the fox and opened the notes app on her tablet again, "What do you know so far?"

"Hum," Nick looked up to think as he counted on his fingers, "We know that Coy was injured in a fight with a fox, a wolf and polar bear. Although I get that you already know that."

The weasel nodded and typed something on her tablet.

"Now we found that his skull was smashed with a crowbar by a fox, possibly the same fox who had fought with him before." Judy added.

"My brother told us that Coy worked in a mechanical shop. Clawhauser found which mechanical shop it was, and we then could talk to his brother Ray and tell him about Coy's death. We questioned him if he knew anything about it; he told us that Coy owned someone something."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dr. Hofstadter interrupted, taking her glasses off and folding her arms, "Your brother? Officer Wilde, what does he have to do with the case?"

"Oh, hum," Nick shrugged, "I found that he knew Coy through a picture that I found in his house when I was spying-" He shut his mouth immediately, but it was too late.

"You were what?!" Judy demanded, nose twitching. "Nick, you went to his house to help him, not to look around uninvited! I knew you just randomly having those pictures with you was way off!"

"Fine, fine, Carrots," The fox threw his hands in the air in defeat, "I shouldn't have done that. But hey, I got us an important clue, didn't I? If I hadn't found that my brother knew Coy we wouldn't have gotten any other clues on the case and we'd still be stuck with an unknown dead body."

Judy opened her mouth, but closed it without saying a word. She wanted to tell Nick how wrong what he did was, but in that moment, he had a point. Nick smiled victoriously when he saw her frown and cleaned his throat.

"Well, Ray also told us that Coy used to go to this club, called The Crimson Beast, a lot. Turns out that it's a red spot in Brittle Street. We preceded to ask my friend Finnick if he knew anything about the place or about Coy. He told us that he had a friend called Steve, a weasel, who turned out to be…"

"The weasel who killed Ray," Dr. Hofstadter nodded. "Is that all?"

"So far, yes."

The weasel put her glasses back on and typed some more on her tablet, her fingers quickly moving across the screen. Nick and Judy waited to see what she was doing, and soon enough she turned her tablet so that they could see its screen; in which she had drawn a scheme with all the information they gave her.

"This is neat," Nick said as he approached it to get a closer look.

"Thank you," She said as Judy took the tablet from her, "I'll send it to your phones."

"Ok, so, we have a few questions that need answers." Judy said as she looked to the screen, "One, who were the animals who attacked Coy, and why they did that. Two, why the fox wanted him dead; I mean, if the fox was the only one that wanted him dead. Three, we need to know why Coy's 'friend' would murder his brother Ray. Or who told him to do it, if he was a hitman. Four, what does any of this has to do with the club that Ray mentioned – if anything at all." Judy said, counting on her fingers.

"Finnick said that Coy used to meet up with Steve on the club to discuss their, ahem, business. There's bound to be information about it there. We just need to look a little deeper into it. Which is what I plan to do tonight." Nick nodded, proud.

"Tonight?" Judy's ears shoot up and her nose began twitching. That was the first time she was hearing about that.

"Yes," Nick nodded, "I brought some social clothes from home when I went there to see my brother and nephew, and I plan to go to the club with Finnick in disguise tonight to get ourselves some more clues."

"Nick," Judy's eyes widened, "You're going there, tonight?"

"Carrots, don't worry, I'll be-"

The fight was interrupted before it could even start properly when someone knocked on the door, and soon enough, the door was open and Clawhauser walked into the lab.

"Officers Wilde and Hopps?" He called, sighing in relief, and already out of breath from running to the lab, "Thank Heavens you're here!"

Nick and Judy exchanged worried looks as he entered the lab and approached them.

"What's wrong, Clawhauser?"

"I just- ah!" He stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell upon the bloody crowbar on the table, and he looked aside as his cheeks puffed. Judy rolled her eyes before she took Clawhauser by the hand and took him out of the lab, being followed by Nick as they left the doctor behind. She waited for them to leave before closing the lab door.

"Thank you," The cheetah took a deep breath and swallowed down the knot on his throat.

"What happened to you?" Judy looked at him from head to toe, startled at his scared appearance.

"Oh, right! Hopps, Wilde, I just got the weirdest phone call, I don't know what I should do! I'm so glad you two are here!" Clawhauser explained as he began walking again toward his table and was followed by the cops.

"Weirdest phone call?" Nick questioned, looking at Judy, who looked just as confused as he did, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," The cheetah began to answer, but shook his head, "Just listen for yourselves."

The three of them walked around the table and sat down while Clawhauser reached for the phone, fidgeting with the configurations on the small screen beside it. He then reached for his computer, and the call began to sound through the speakers.

 _"ZPD, Clawhauser speaking, what's your emergency?"_ Clawhauser's voice sounded happy in the recording as he was always eager to help when they got a call.

 _"Hello,"_ A female voice spoke afterwards, _"I need to report something."_ She sounded eerily calm for the situation in hand, speaking slowly and low; something unusual for those in need of help.

 _"Sure, ma'am, what is it?"_ Clawhauser asked and they could hear the cheetah reaching for a pencil and fidgeting with it in the speakers, as he always did when he had to write something down.

 _"You need,"_ The voice suddenly got muffled by static, and although they could hear it in the background, they couldn't make out what she was saying. Judy's ears moved around as she tried to pick up what was being said, but failed.

 _"Sorry, what was it? I couldn't hear you,"_ Clawhauser then informed, starting to get apprehensive.

 _"You need,"_ More static was heard before the call returned to normal, _"You need to send someone over to the orphanage."_

 _"The orphanage?",_ Clawhauser wrote it down, _"Why?"_

 _"You need to send someone over there,"_ Now the voice was speaking faster and more apprehensive as well. The sound of quick steps could be heard in the background, _"Just send someone, please."_

 _"Why? Ma'am, you need to tell me what's going on. What do you need? An officer, an ambulance?"_ Clawhauser urged.

The voice didn't reply right away. Instead, only noises could be heard. The sound of steps, and then the sound of a door closing. More static.

 _"Ma'am, are you there? Are you okay?"_ Clawhauser urged again.

 _"Someone is going to do something bad at the orphanage,"_ She continued at last, breath catching in her throat, _"You need to go there and protect the children, now!"_

The voice gasped and went silent before continuing in a much lower voice, almost a whisper. _"Someone's going to try to harm m- the children."_

Judy blinked in surprise, having the impression that the voice was going to say something and then changed her mind before quickly correcting herself.

 _"Alright, alright, take a deep breath,"_ Clawhauser instructed when he noticed she was getting apprehensive, _"I got it, I got it. Now tell me, how do you know about this? Did you overhear it or something? Who said it? Where are you?"_

Once again, steps and static. _"Go to the orphanage and make sure the children are safe!"_ It was all she said, not answering any of Clawhauser's questions at all.

 _"We will, ma'am! Now tell me, who am I talking to, and how do you know someone's threatening the children? Are you alright?"_

 _"Will you go there? Please, be fast!"_ She pleaded, almost as if she feared Clawhauser was lying to her, her voice now trembling and shaky; barely a whisper. _"Someone needs to go there."_

 _"I will send someone, ma'am, now please, answer me. Are you alright?"_

A yell could be heard on the background, and the voice that had been speaking to Clawhauser seemed to gasp. _"Send someone there, please!"_ It was the last thing said on the voice's end before she ended the call, leaving Clawhauser and the cops listening to it with unanswered questions and confused expressions.

 _"Ma'am? Ma'am!"_ Clawhauser insisted, but obviously, didn't get an answer. _"Oh, boy,"_ He sighed before turning off the phone and ending the recording.

Clawhauser turned to Nick and Judy as the computer returned to its default screen, and the cops looked just as scared and as confused as he was.

"This is eerie," Judy shivered.

"Well, it sounds like a prank call if you ask me," Nick folded his arms over his chest, huffing, "Don't we get at least one of them every month?"

"I don't know, Nick," Judy shook her head, "She sounded actually scared when she called for help. Do you think it could be someone who works at the orphanage?"

"I don't know," Clawhauser sighed, "That's all they said. Most of the cops are out on night duty and chief Bogo went to investigate a theft that happened a few minutes ago. You have to go over there."

"What?" Nick gasped, "I can't! Finnick is going to pick me up here soon for us to go investigate about Coy's death, a much more serious crime than a prank call..."

"But what if it isn't a prank call?" Judy retorted, folding her arms. "You heard it, whoever it was, she was scared. Besides, she said someone is going to harm the children - we can't allow anything like that to happen!"

"Yeah, but she didn't even say what or who it was. All of it smells like prank call to me."

"I don't know." Clawhauser joined the conversation, "It made me uneasy. The static, the noises, the voice..." The cheetah shivered. "I mean, it's vague and it could be a prank, but what if it isn't? What if someone does harm the children?"

His words got to Nick, and the three of them stood in silence.

"You're right," He sighed, "We can't let that happen. I still think it sounds like a prank call, but… We can't risk, let's go over there, and-"

"No," Judy interrupted him, "The more we wait, the longer it'll take for us to solve the mystery. For all we know, Coy's murderer could be out there right now, plotting his next scheme."

Nick waited for Judy to make her point.

"You go with Finnick," Judy told him, "I check the orphanage."

Nick and Judy bumped fists before the rabbit ran out.

* * *

 **This feels like a weird place to stop a chapter, but trust me, it was the best place to leave it at for now.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, see yah next chapter!**


	23. Mess

**Hey, this took a while! I hope the long-ish chapter makes up for that.**

* * *

The orphanage's living room was beautifully adorned with golden details on its light green walls that were covered in pictures depicting little kids who had lived there but had already been adopted. The place smelled nicely, like fresh baked pie, and it brought Judy a comforting sensation of being home – unfortunately, that was far from the reality she found herself in.

The cop was sitting across a gazelle, a tigress and a lioness; all of which looked appalled upon listening to the call that Judy had Clawhauser send to her phone.

"Now you understand why I had to come here so late and wake you all up," Judy sighed, "This couldn't wait any longer."

"Yes, of course," The gazelle nodded, gripping her blue nightgown.

"I'm assuming none of you is responsible for this call?" Judy asked when she realized all the three females looked surprised and confused. They shook their heads and confirmed her suspicions.

The cop sighed and reached down for her notepad and pen, pulling them out of her pocket.

"Okay, I need to ask a few questions; is that alright with you all?"

"Of course!", Jasmine, the tigress, responded with a sharp nod. Mary, the gazelle, and Jolene, the lioness, nodded as well.

"Alright, good," Judy smiled, "Do any of you happen to know the mammal who made the call? Do you recognize the voice?"

The three of them exchanged looks before shaking their heads in unison.

"We've never heard it before," Mary sighed.

"Alright," Judy sighed as well as she wrote the gazelle's words down on her notepad. "Have any threats ever been made against the orphanage in any way, shape or form?"

"Good gracious, no!" Jolene exclaimed in despair as she put her paws together as though she was praying, "We've been very blessed, we achieved everything we hoped to with this place; things have always been wonderful here!"

Mary cleaned her throat, choosing her words carefully, "It hasn't been all that, Jolene."

The lioness' hopeful eyes didn't falter. "Well, we've had unmoneyed times and tough patches and some minor incidents yes, but never any threats!"

Judy's ears shot up, "Minor incidents?"

"Ignore her, officer. I'm afraid she's a bit ingenuous," Jasmine said as she rolled her eyes at Jolene.

"The word is optimistic," Jolene folded her arms and looked down.

"Girls," Mary interrupted before the two felines could start a fight, "Let's focus on the matter at hand. We've never had any threats, officer Hopps, but I'm afraid we had an incident that might be of your interest not too long ago."

"Oh?" Judy's nose twitched, "What is it?"

Mary stood up from the chair she was on and motioned for Judy to follow her. Judy jumped out of her chair and followed the gazelle, Jolene and Jasmine following them right behind the bunny.

"You see," Mary began explaining as they walked through a corridor, "Around three days ago someone broke in."

"What?" Judy gasped, "I didn't hear anything about this at the ZPD!"

"That's because we didn't call the ZPD," Jasmine groaned.

"Excuse me?" Judy looked over her shoulder at the tigress behind her.

"Nothing of value was stolen and we've had some kids getting sick lately, so this, hum, situation didn't stand out as a priority," Mary told Judy, "We didn't know if it was worth calling the cops over it. See, someone forced a window open, walked into the office and made a mess with our files before they left, but that was it."

"A mess with your files?" Judy tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Mary began talking, but then she shook her head and stopped walking when they got in front of a door, "This."

The gazelle then opened the door and turned the room lights on, stepping aside so that Judy could look into the room. She gasped in shock and her ears drooped behind her.

"What the…?"

The room was clearly an office, with endless wooden shelves covering the walls and a desk with three chairs on the center. Most of the room was neatly organized, except for one naked shelf whose files had been taken off it and now its papers laid scattered across the floor; an empty folder laying among them. It looked as though someone had gone through them all in a rush and had left the mess there afterwards.

"This… This is weird." Judy raised an eyebrow.

"No, weird is when your alarm clock rings five minutes earlier than it was meant to," Jasmine coughed, "This crime is outright ridiculous."

"Jasmine!" Jolene scolded.

"What? It is," Jasmine shrugged.

"Mind if I go in?" Judy asked, looking up at them, and Mary smiled and nodded at the bunny while the tigress and the lioness still glared at each other.

Judy walked in the office and looked around, being careful not to step on any documents. She then saw a window on the wall and approached it, quickly noticing that it had been worked on recently – the windowsill was old and used, but the latch was brand new.

"Was this the window that was broken?" Judy asked.

"Yes," Mary answered. "The trespasser broke the old latch and got in. The door was locked, so they never left this room; thankfully. I came to check the noise, and I could hear them leaving while I unlocked and opened the door. When I got in, they had left."

Judy took her phone out and took pictures of the window and the latch, adding the gazelle's words to her notes. Looking around, she noticed that although simple, that room had some adornments that could be worth stealing. A small silver globe sat on the table, alongside some fancy book holders and even a cross that seemed to be made of gold hanging on the wall. All objects that could have been easily taken away by a burglar, but weren't.

The next thing she noticed was that some of the sheets had been stacked on the corner of the room as if to make a path that lead to the wall with the window on it.

"Did anyone come into this room after the incident?"

"Well, yes, we hired someone to put on the new latch, but that was it." Mary responded.

"So, nobody came in to clean or organize this mess? A maid, perhaps?"

"You see, the orphanage is run mainly by the three of us only, thus we share chores such as cleaning. Jolene was scheduled to clean the house yesterday."

"But some of the kids in our care got sick, the poor things were up all night," The lioness chimed in, "And I had to put off organizing this to help them. They are our priority no matter what!"

"I see," Judy kneeled on the floor, "Why didn't you call the ZPD to inform this?"

"I wanted to!" Jasmine objected.

"It didn't feel important enough," Jolene answered.

"But I told them we should have!"

"Like I said they didn't steal anything, and the kids were sick. It was almost too much for the three of us to handle; there was no space in our heads to worry about a mess someone made." Mary bit her lip, "Even if it was an intruder."

"I understand," Judy nodded as she looked around her once more, taking in the documents she saw on the floor. They were mostly files of orphan kids that lived in there, with information regarding their species, age, and so on. As she analyzed the files, something seemed to click on her mind. She checked more of the sheets for confirmation.

"Faline, Felicia, Francis, Finn, Frank…" She listed as she read the names written on the top of the sheets, "All of the kids here have names starting with F. Hum…"

Judy walked toward the shelf that had been emptied by the intruder and checked the label under it; surely enough, it was the shelf that was marked with F. The shelves around it were untouched, still in perfect conditions.

"I assume these are sorted by name?"

"Yes," Mary approached Judy and adjusted her nightgown, "Every time a new kid arrives, they are registered and added to the system. Then we print it out and file it here, sorting it by name."

"Hum…" Judy put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, "This is weird indeed."

"You mean ridiculous," Jasmine muttered under her breath.

"What do you think, officer Hopps?" Jolene asked.

"Well," Judy took a deep breath, "Someone bothered to break in here, but they didn't take any of the valuable objects that were available to be stolen. Instead, they decided to mess with a single shelf. But why?"

"Do you think this is related to the call you showed us?" Mary asked.

"Hum…" Judy took one of her hands to her chin, "Tell me, were there ever any other incidents like this before, or in recent times?"

"No, I told you, we were very blessed in that aspect," Jolene nodded, "No other incidents like this at all."

"Well, then I'd say it is most likely related to it, yeah, I mean, what are the chances of both this and the call happening so close to one another?" Judy bit her lip, "It could be a coincidence though, well, or maybe the caller is aware of someone who wants to harm one of the kids whose name begins with F and tried to warn us about their plans?"

"That couldn't be it," Mary shook her head, "We have no kids with names with F right now. All of those have been adopted already. We don't have kids with F-starting names, do we?" She looked to Jolene and Jasmine for confirmation.

Jolene looked up and began counting on her fingers, "Hum, Maria, Laura, Molly…"

"Pietro, Marco, Miguel…" Jasmine joined in.

"No, none," Jolene shook her head, "The last one was Fernando, but thanks Heaven he found a nice family!"

"How long ago was he adopted?"

"About a year ago," Jasmine informed, "A lot of kids come into our care, and it's up to us to name them most of the time. To avoid confusion, we try to name them all differently following a book of names, and the names with F were used long ago. Right now, we're at letter M."

"So, these files are from over a year ago?"

"At least one year ago, yes," Mary pointed out, "But some are very old, dating back to before we owned this place. But yes, the most recent one would be Fernando's, and even that would be a year old."

"Hum…" Judy tapped her foot, "All of this is very strange indeed. I can think of a few possibilities, but none of them seem to add up with the rest of the information."

The three caretakers waited patiently as Judy thought quietly for a few seconds before she left the room and Mary closed the door again.

"I request that this room be left untouched until tomorrow so that I can send our detectives here to look for clues as to who the responsible is. If nobody has cleaned it, we stand a chance at finding fur, or prints they left behind."

"Of course," Mary smiled, "As you wish, officer Hopps."

"I will send a team to investigate tomorrow as soon as the sun rises," Judy assured her.

"Thank you, officer Hopps," Mary nodded.

"Also, another thing," Judy added, "You said you have a computer system, right?"

"That's correct. Each file here is also stored in our computer."

"Alright. Like I said, I'll send a team tomorrow morning. But once they're done, I'll need you to organize those files and check if there's anything missing, anything at all. If it turns out that the intruder did take something from the folder, that could be a very important piece of this puzzle."

"Understood!" Jolene nodded, "I'll clean this room as soon as they're done and get on to it!"

Mary sighed, relief mixed with worry. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Judy nodded, "Here," she said as she wrote her phone number down on her notepad and tore the page away before handing it to Mary, "This is my personal number. If something, anything else happens, call me immediately, alright?"

The gazelle nodded as she took the paper and put it in her night gown's pocket.

"We will solve this, ma'am, and the kids will be alright." Judy smiled, "That's a personal promise."

"We'll keep an eye out too," Jasmine positioned her fists as if she were about to fight someone.

"And may God bless us all," Jolene whispered, hands clasped together as she looked up.

* * *

 _Rick had his back pressed flat against the wall, pushing it back as though he hoped he could pass right through it and escape that room._

 _Sheen's office was dimly lit, a single old lightbulb was the only source of light they had. The room was a bit too small to accommodate all the mammals that found themselves in there, and the fact that they all seemed to need to yell every time they spoke didn't make the surroundings any more pleasant. Furthermore, the room smelled of alcohol, drugs, blood and piss – Rick never thought he'd wish so bad for a window._

 _The gang consisted of 23 predators, mostly racoons, wolves, lions, bears and weasels. As far as Rick could tell, himself, Sheen and Lydia were the only foxes in there; but the two others were nowhere to be found._

 _Rick didn't know how long he'd been there for, but every second there felt like a second too long. When Sheen messaged him asking for a meetup, he thought his boss wanted to talk to him alone; unfortunately, that was clearly not the case._

 _Rick looked around to look for familiar faces. Coy, Steve, and some others he recognized from seeing them on the club. Most of them, however, were complete strangers to him._

 _"Goodie!" Coy called, walking up to Rick when he spotted the fox looking at him. He wrapped an arm around Rick's shoulders and pulled him away from the wall, bringing him out of his hiding spot. Rick tried to fight it, but the racoon's grip was too strong, "You're missing out on the party, boy! Come have a drink with us!"_

 _He let Rick go when they got close to Steve and the other mammals Coy had been talking to and handed him the beer he'd been drinking as he grabbed a new one from an icebox._

 _"Slow down there, Coy," Steve spat on the floor, "That's your fifth can. Sheen won't be happy if you're so drunk you can't do anything right. Not that you do much right when you're sober anyway."_

 _Coy showed Steve his middle finger and raised his beer in front of Rick, proposing a toast. Rick took a deep breath and laid the can Coy had given him on the floor without taking anything from it._

 _"Sorry guys," Rick held out his hands and gave a step back, "I'd rather not drink on the job."_

 _Steve nodded, "You see, Coy? That's a good employee. Being responsible."_

 _Coy laughed out with a cough, clapping and spilling some of his beer on the floor. "That's why we call him Goodie! You're definitely Sheen's best acquisition after that hot vixen, boy."_

 _Rick's heart sank, "She has a name, you know." He muttered under his breath._

 _"Hey Rick-"_

 _"Hello, fur brains!"_

 _The room went quiet immediately upon that call, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to the door. Sheen walked in, sunglasses on – despite it being past midnight – with Lydia following him from behind. He walked in the room and the mammals there were on his way stepped aside before he could even tell them to._

 _He was carrying a folder that he dropped on his table before he took his glasses off and hung them on the collar of his shirt. Lydia soon got out of sight, lost among the other animals._

 _"Thank you all for coming, sorry for being late, you know the usual shit I say on these reunions. Hey, Leo!" He snapped at a lion in the corner of the room, "Don't leave that can on the floor, that carpet's worth more than you!"_

 _"Sorry boss," The lion shrunk under the fox's gaze. More than being obedient, he was also clearly afraid._

 _Rick had to admit Sheen was intimidating, and he himself would never dare to fight him, for the other fox outfought him easily; thus, it made sense that Rick would accept him as a superior. But why would bears and lions like Leo accept that, when they could easily take Sheen down? Surely the scheme paid good money, but still, why would they submit themselves to such poor treatment when they had the advantage of strength and size?_

 _"Good," Sheen nodded, smiling again and now addressing all the animals present there, "I have good news; Doug called me this morning and said experiments one and three worked!"_

 _Everyone in the room cheered, some in rather aggressive ways. Rick stood as still as possible, confused. Being the newest member there, they still hadn't let him in on all the details. Surely those experiments working was a good thing for the scheme, but that usually meant it was bad – really bad – for everyone that didn't work for Sheen._

 _"Calm down, you beasts," He laughed, motioning for everyone to quiet down, "That's not all."_

 _Suddenly, Sheen gasped for air as if he'd been punched in the gut. He leaned one hand on his table and wheezed; retching as if he were about to throw up and almost falling on the floor. Rick's ears perked up and he ran to his boss, surprised when no one else did anything._

 _Everyone else seemed surprised that he was doing something._

 _"Sheen? You alright-?"_

 _Abruptly, someone grabbed Rick's shirt collar from behind and pulled him back away from Sheen; hiding him among the crowd once more. He gasped and lost his balance, falling backwards on the floor. Laughter came afterwards, but it soon died out as nobody was paying that much attention to Rick; most eyes remained focused on the fox they called their boss._

 _Rick looked up, confused, and saw that Lydia had been the one who'd pulled him. When he gave her a questioning look, she merely put a finger over her mouth to tell him to keep quiet and then nodded toward Sheen._

 _Rick got up from the floor and looked at his boss. He'd grabbed a syringe – from where, Rick hadn't seen – and he injected his arm with the bright red liquid inside it. Almost like magic, the medicine worked immediately and in a matter of seconds Sheen was back to normal as if nothing had happened._

 _"What is-" Rick whispered and turned to where Lydia was, hoping she'd clear the situation for him, but she was gone._

 _"Sorry for that," Sheen resumed his speech, putting the syringe in his pocket and adjusting the sleeve that he'd wrinkled up to apply the shot. He then cleaned his throat and walked up to the folder he'd left on the table. "As I said, experiment two didn't work. And we need the three of them to work if we want to get this done. From now on we'll work on experiment two-point-one, starting tonight!"_

 _He lifted the folder over his head as if it were a prize and cheers were heard. He then opened the folder and began getting the files from inside it._

 _"Coy, Steve!" Sheen called, and his trusted sidekicks rushed to his side, "You two will work with me tonight. Steve," He reached for the keys attached on his belt and threw them to the weasel, "Go get my car ready!"_

 _"You got it, boss!" Steve grabbed the keys in midair and ran upstairs._

 _From that point on, Sheen called names and handed out files to each member of the group. Rick stayed quiet, for he didn't know what was happening. He'd gotten the gist of the job, but he'd never actually done anything; while everyone else seemed to be familiar with that dynamic and the tasks they were assigned._

 _Around ten animals had already left the room when Sheen called him out, "Rick!"_

 _Rick's mouth went dry. His heart pounded inside his chest as he stepped closer to Sheen, stepping into the spotlight and feeling all the other animals' eyes on him._

 _Hiding in the corner of the room, Lydia watched the scene from behind the other animals._

 _"Ah, Goodie!" Sheen smiled when he recognized the fox, "This is your first assignment, isn't it?"_

 _"Uh," Rick scratched his arm, "Yeah, it is."_

 _"Nervous, are we?" Sheen laughed as he patted Rick on the back, "Don't worry kid, you'll be fine. Since this is your first time, I'll go easy on you."_

 _"T-Thanks," Rick sputtered out as Sheen handed him a file._

 _"Here! All you need to know is written down there," Sheen's smile was an obvious attempt to calm Rick down, but it had the opposite result._

 _"Mr. Big?" Rick read the name written on his file._

 _Lydia's eyes widened._

 _"Don't let yourself be fooled by the name," Sheen laughed out, "Mr. Big is a tiny rat, literally. You'll be-"_

 _"Sheen!"_

 _Everyone turned their heads to the female fox who pushed her way through the crowd, stomping towards Sheen._

 _"Hey, honey, what's wrong-"_

 _"First of all, don't call me that," Lydia poked him on the chest, "Secondly, are you crazy? You're going to send_ ** _him_** _to deal with Mr. Big?" She said as she pointed to Rick._

 _Sheen smiled at the vixen when she got up in his face, clearly angry and attempting to be intimidating._

 _"Yeah, so? What's wrong with that?" Sheen asked her innocently._

 _"You know what's wrong!" Lydia groaned, "You can't send him! He's naïve and ingenuous, anyone in Tundra Town could fight him even if they had a hand tied on their backs!" She looked at Rick, "No offense."_

 _"Uh, none taken," Rick raised an eyebrow._

 _"Honey-"_

 _"Don't call me that." She folded her arms._

 _"Fine, listen, sweetheart," Sheen poked her nose with a sly smile, "Goodie is new here. I just want to make sure he's up to challenges."_

 _"He can't be up to them if he dies on the first of them!"_

 _"If I what?" Rick gasped, watching the scene unfold._

 _"Hey," Coy poked Leo and whispered, "This twenty says Sheen will make her shut up."_

 _"You're on," Leo whispered back._

 _Sheen raised an eyebrow and looked down at the short vixen. He could tell that she was annoyed that her attempts to get him to back down didn't work, as much as she refused to show it._

 _"Tell me," Sheen folded his arms, "Why do you care?"_

 _Lydia's eyes widened as she faltered at last, giving a step back with her mouth open – she made a sound, but no actual words were spoken. She then glanced at Rick and thought of the wounds on her face he'd helped her with; her face heating up slightly at the memory._

 _A few animals cooed when they saw her embarrassment, and she angrily looked at them, sighing before she faced Sheen again._

 _"Sending him alone out of all people to deal with this one case is insanity and you know it," She stomped her foot._

 _"That doesn't answer my question," Sheen cooed as well, running his finger under her chin, "But alright, I'll listen to you."_

 _Lydia sighed in relief._

 _"Goodie," He turned to Rick and quickly grabbed Lydia's arm, her relief short-lived, "You just got yourself a partner."_

 _Before the vixen could object, Sheen threw her toward Rick and she collided against his chest. His arms instinctively wrapped around her waist to help her stand up, much like what had happened when they were first introduced._

 _"I what?" Rick gasped._

 _Lydia turned her head back to Sheen, but didn't move away from Rick's embrace, "Sheen, what the-"_

 _"You said that sending him alone was insanity, so I'm sending you with him. You know, since you seem to know just so much about Mr. Big's case and since you seem so worried about Goodie making it back here alive, what better option than send you there with him?"_

 _Lydia looked up at a startled Rick's eyes and frowned._

 _"You know what?" She said, stepping away from Rick and holding his arm, "You're right! He and I will take this one, and we'll nail it!"_

 _Everyone in the room gasped in surprise, Sheen's smile vanishing from his face and he was clearly surprised as well – something that didn't happen very often._

 _Leo poked Coy and took the raccoon's twenty bucks as he moaned for the lost bet._

 _"Come on, Rick," She said as she pulled him towards the door of the office, "We have work to do!"_

 _Rick looked back and forth between Lydia and Sheen as the vixen took him out._

 _He couldn't remember a time when he was more confused than right then._

* * *

 _ **Jolene - A reference to the song Jolene, by Dolly Parton. The character was originally a sheep, so I'd named her Dolly (after the sheep that shares her name with the singer), but after I changed her species I went for a different reference by using the song.**_

 _ **Jasmine - A reference to the Disney princess since the character is a tigress and Jasmine owns a tiger for a pet.**_

 _ **Mary - A reference to the Virgin Mary, Jesus' mother in the Christian religion.**_

 **Consider those a 'behind the scene' kind of thing. I thought it might be interesting since these three characters will show up again later on.**

 **Sorry that this took kind of long, I've had the worst writer's block ever. I only just now updated my other fics and this was the only one I still had to write for. Thanks for all the reviews and follows/favs, it really helps me overcome any walls I might hit while writing this. Let me know your thoughts if you feel like it, hope you enjoyed it!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	24. Lydia

**My God this took forever! Sorry for the long wait. Well, we've had a chapter named Robin, seems fitting that we also have one named Lydia now. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _"Alright," Lydia whispered as she crouched down behind a snowbank, "This is it, we're here."_

 _Rick crouched down beside her and looked ahead. Tundratown was covered in snow and a heavy cold mist that was hard to see through, so all Rick could see in front of him was the faint outline of a huge fence in front of some cars in some kind of parking lot and the faint lights of a house coming through its windows in the distance._

 _The place seemed to be empty, no sound could be heard aside from the chattering of Rick's teeth. He looked to the vixen and wondered how in the world she didn't seem to be cold at all, like that crazy weather didn't even bother her._

 _He watched as she reached for the file she'd put in her pocket and pulled it out. She squinted, clearly struggling to read anything in the dim light around them solely provided by the moon in the sky._

 _"Oh," Rick reached for his phone, "Here."_

 _She raised an eyebrow as he turned on the flashlight app and got closer to her so that they could read it together. She smiled at him for a quick second before focusing on the file again. The page was simple enough; merely describing an address with a map and a target that had to be brought back to their boss by the end of their mission._

 _Mr. Big's mansion, his office, bring back his watch._

 _"A watch?" Rick frowned, "Why would Sheen want a-"_

 _"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Lydia shook her head as she stood up and cleaned up the snow on her trousers, "Our job is to comply, not to question."_

 _Rick nodded and stood up as well, rubbing his hands together in a weird mix of fear and excitement, "Ok, so, how are we-"_

 _He let out a yelp when Lydia grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him down on his knees again._

 _"WE aren't doing anything," Lydia looked down at him with a frown and then pointed to herself, "I will get in and get the watch, while YOU wait here. Don't make a sound, don't be seen; if you're seen, don't be caught. If I don't come back in half an hour, you leave without me. Understand?"_

 _Rick blinked in confusion as the vixen didn't wait for a reply and started running towards the fence._

 _"Hey!" Rick jumped up and ran after her._

 _"Hush!" She whispered as she turned to him, "I told you to stay there!"_

 _"You want to do this alone?" He shook his head and asked in disbelief._

 _"Listen, Goodie," She sighed in annoyance and pinched the bridge of her muzzle, "You're new here. This is not any target, this is Mr. Big, also known as Sheen's worst enemy. One single step gone wrong is enough to guarantee that he will have two new fox rugs hanging on his wall by the morning and I've not come this far to become a rug, alright? Just let me deal with this and we'll be done with it and good to go soon, alright?"_

 _"But…"_

 _"No buts!" She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him a few steps back, "Now you live up to your nickname and be a good boy, ok? And if I'm not back in half an hour go back to the club without me."_

 _Rick's jaw dropped as the vixen merely turned around and swiftly climbed up the fence, almost effortlessly. He could tell that the vixen was not used to being contradicted, and he already knew she wasn't one to be bossed around by anyone – except Sheen. He frowned at her as she got to the top of the fence and sat on it._

 _Lydia squinted and analyzed her surroundings carefully, making sure that nobody had seen her climbing up. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she graciously leaped down and fell on her feet on the other side of the fence, making almost no sound as she did so._

 _And then she let out an ear-piercing scream when Rick suddenly plopped down by her side on his back after losing his balance up on the fence._

 _"Rick!" She took her hand to her chest and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart down, eyes widening when she worried that the sounds they made might get them caught._

 _"Ouch," Rick groaned as he stood up from the snow, feeling a sharp pain through his body. He had to admit he envied her agility._

 _"I told you to stay put, on the other side!" She groaned and took her hand to her forehead. "I will deal with this by myself, now climb back and go-"_

 _"No!" Rick interrupted her, quite loudly. He realized he'd been loud and repeated his statement in a whisper, "No."_

 _Lydia's mouth went agape, "Goodie, please…"_

 _"Listen," He took a deep breath and held his hands out, "This was my mission to begin with, not yours. You can't just come here and tell me what to do like you were my boss, I really need this job, ok?"_

 _"Oh," She looked appalled and offended, "Well, sorry if I wanted to help you because I didn't want you to die or get caught in your first assignment! Guess I should have left you to it! Actually, I will."_

 _Lydia reached for the file again and shoved it against Rick's chest, going up the fence again._

 _"Bye, Rick!"_

 _His heart raced, and he panicked at the thought of being left alone there, regretting having complained to her in the first place. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right – he needed help._

 _"Wait!" He grabbed her by tail before she could get to the top of the fence. She stood still on the fence, looking down at him, "I'm sorry," he muttered._

 _"Sorry, what was that?" She tilted her head with a smile and put her hand on her ear, "I didn't hear you."_

 _Rick frowned, "I'm sorry, ok?" He repeated, louder this time._

 _Her smug smile didn't vanish, "And...?"_

 _"And," He rolled his eyes and sighed, "I need your help. But," He raised a finger, "I'm going with you! It's either both of us, or none of us."_

 _Her smile finally vanished as she rolled her eyes as well, "Fine. But you will have to do what I say. I know this place and I know what we're dealing with. There must be no mistakes. Deal?"_

 _"Deal." He nodded, although he wasn't happy to have agreed._

 _"Good," She nodded, "Hum, can you let go of my tail now?"_

 _"Oh," He did as he was told and cleaned his throat, "Well, then I think we should-"_

 _Before he could finish his sentence, Lydia gasped and jumped down on him, sending them to the ground and falling over him._

 _"Hey," He gasped, "What are you-"_

 _She held his mouth shut and pointed to a polar bear guard passing by. Just as the foxes hit the ground he pointed his flashlight towards their hiding spot. Luckily, they weren't seen as they were behind one of the cars, but the guard was clearly aware of their presence._

 _"Who is there? Show yourselves!" He demanded in his low and growling voice as he approached the foxes' hiding spot._

 _"Oh, crap, crap, crap," Rick's heart started beating loudly inside his chest with each step the polar bear took towards them as he put his hands together and started a desperate prayer._

 _"I won't ask anymore, show yourselves!"_

 _"That's it, we're done, he's going to kill us," Rick whined and covered his head with his hands._

 _"Quiet," Lydia hushed him, trying to think of a plan and her eyes widened when an idea hit her._

 _"Who is-"_

 _The bear was interrupted when a deep wolf howl took place. He gasped and looked back at the mansion, running to it immediately._

 _"What?" Rick gasped, not believing their luck when he saw the polar bear running away, but not entirely sure of what was happening either._

 _Rick looked around and to his amazement, it was Lydia who was howling. She kept at it until the bear was far away from them. Rick looked over to the mansion, seeing that all the guards were running to it._

 _Once they were alone again, she stopped howling and tried to catch her breath as Rick looked amazed._

 _"How… How'd you do that?"_

 _"Oh," Lydia smiled at him, "Mr. Big uses polar bears as guards, but he has some patrolling wolves as well. Whenever one of them howls it's an alarm and they run back to the mansion to protect their boss. Sheen told me that. That buys us some time, but they'll soon realize it was a false alarm, so we have to-"_

 _"No, I mean, how did you howl like that?"_

 _"Uh?" Her cheeks suddenly warmed up and she looked aside._

 _"I've seen people mimicking howls before, but that's not what you've done. That… that was a real howl. Just, how? I didn't even know foxes could-"_

 _"I, I'm just really good at it, ok?" She stood up and peeped her head over the car to check their surroundings again, "I think we're good to go. Follow me."_

 _"But…" Rick was interrupted when Lydia crouched down and ran across the parking lot, quickly hiding behind another car. Once she got there, she looked around once more and nodded towards him, motioning for him to go as well._

 _Rick gulped and put the file in his pocket before he crouched down and ran on all fours until he got to Lydia's side, his heart pounding. He pressed his back against the car and took a deep breath, his fur going up with a shiver._

 _"I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive," He gasped for air, touching his chest and face as to confirm he wasn't dead._

 _"Hush!" Lydia scolded him as she looked back at the mansion, hissing, "Oh, crap."_

 _"What?" Rick tilted his head, looking to the mansion as well; and he saw that all the guards were reunited in a circle before they started running back to their posts, "Shoot, they know it was a false alarm, don't they?"_

 _"That's what it looks like," Lydia took a deep breath, "They're going to be even more alert now, crap, I shouldn't have done the alarm." She bowed her head in defeat._

 _"Hey, we would have been caught by now if you hadn't. That was a brilliant idea, it really was! We just… need a new plan now." Rick laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Let's look for a new angle!"_

 _She bit her lip and turned her head to look at him, nodding and smiling back._

 _"Ok," She sighed, "I guess you're not as dumb as I thought you were."_

 _His smile vanished as he raised an eyebrow, "Uh, thanks?"_

 _"Alright, we have to be careful. Watch for the guards as I make a plan," She whispered, "Give me the file."_

 _Rick reached for it in his pocket and handed it to her. As she opened it and read it again, Rick suddenly felt like his pocket was weirdly empty. His heart started beating faster as he realized his wallet was missing. He searched all his pockets frantically but couldn't find it in any of them._

 _"Ok," Lydia nodded as she looked back at him, "I think I know how to… Uh, Rick, what's wrong with you?"_

 _"My wallet!" He sounded desperate, "I can't find it! It was in my pocket a minute ago! I, I have to find it."_

 _"Rick!" She tried to get him to be less fussy, "Calm down, they'll see you! Listen, once we're done with this you'll be able to buy any wallet you want-"_

 _"No!" Rick jumped up, looking around, "You don't get it, I- There!" He pointed at his wallet. It was on the ground a few feet away from them, behind the car that had been their previous hiding spot, "It must have fallen out when I ran, I need to get it!" He looked around and ran to it, way less carefully than he should have._

 _"Rick!" Lydia shook her head, quickly looking around and running after him, "Rick, they will-"_

 _Rick didn't hear her, he just sighed in relief as he retrieved his wallet and held it tightly against his chest with a smile._

 _"Sorry, Lydia, did you say a-"_

 _He turned around to look at her, only to find that she was being held by a polar bear guard who covered her mouth with one of his paws as she frantically shook her body to try to get away from his grip, but to no avail._

 _"Well, well, well," The bear smiled eerily at him, "It seems that foxes aren't as smart as they're said to be."_

 _Rick let out a scream and froze in fear, unsure of what to do next. He looked at Lydia and then at the polar bear, who was standing still as he looked to the terrified fox in front of him. Suddenly, Lydia let out a muffled scream and started waving at Rick to get him to pay attention to her, eyes wide as her tail flickered. She pointed to behind him, and just as Rick turned around, a wolf hit him on the head with such force that he passed out on the spot as Lydia tried to scream once more._

 _..._

 _Rick opened his eyes slowly, the pounding in his head being almost unbearable. He groaned as he pushed himself up from the ground and his whole body shivered in pain._

 _"Ow…" His voice came out low and raspy as he sat up on the cold stone ground. His sight was blurry, but once it straightened itself out, he realized he was in a dark prison cell. Lydia was sitting on the ground with her back on him across the cell, hugging her knees. "Lydia?"_

 _"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," She growled without moving._

 _"Ouch, my head…" He took his paw to his head and looked around, "What happened?"_

 _"What happened?" Lydia jumped up, turning around to face him with an incredulous expression, "What happened? I will tell you, you got us caught!" She gestured to the cell bars and to the huge lock keeping it locked._

 _His heart raced as he stood up, almost falling over due to the dizziness. Memories started coming back to his confused mind, but he couldn't make sense of them in his current state, "What?"_

 _"You got us caught!" She walked up to him, "And now they're going to take us to Mr. Big and do you know what he's going to do to us?"_

 _"What?" He gasped._

 _"Well," Lydia looked up, "I don't know either, but it won't be good!" She threw her arms in the air and groaned, her eyes starting to water up. She looked aside and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, stomping her foot, "I should have let you come here on you own!"_

 _"Lydia…" He tried to calm her down, but she started pacing around the cell; ignoring him completely._

 _"But no, I had to stand up for you, didn't I? I could be just fine right now, but instead I'm going to be made into a pretty fox scarf for Mr. Big to wear to his fancy parties, great! All for what? Because of a stupid goodie fox! Just because I didn't want to see you die! That's what I get for liking you!"_

 _She stopped talking and stared at him for a moment, her eyes widening once she finally calmed down enough and realized the words she'd spoken. Her eyes were now filled with tears and Rick held his hands out, unsure of what you do._

 _"Lydia…"_

 _"Ugh," She groaned and folded her arms as she blushed, "It doesn't matter now. We're going to die anyway," She pressed her back against the bars of the jail, "All because of you and your stupid wallet."_

 _Rick gasped as he spun around, checking his pockets once more. "My wallet! I, where, I," He started panicking again once he realized it wasn't with him, then he started running around the cell looking for it on the ground._

 _"Would you stop?" Lydia spat, "We are going to die! It doesn't matter now!"_

 _"It does!" He turned to her, "I need to find it!"_

 _"Rick, stop," She shook her head._

 _"No!"_

 _"Why do you want it anyway?"_

 _"I need it!"_

 _"But why?"_

 _"You wouldn't understand!"_

 _"What wouldn't I understand?"_

 _"I just-" Rick came to a halt when he realized he'd really lost it. His wallet was nowhere to be found, it was useless. He fell to his knees and started sobbing, bracing himself like an afraid little kid._

 _Lydia rolled her eyes and sighed, and they stayed in a heavy uncomfortable silence. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and took in his haggard form. She would never admit it, but it did pain her to see him like that. They were going to die, sure, but maybe his last moments didn't have to be that miserable._

 _"Hey, Goodie?"_

 _He looked at her over his shoulder without saying a word, eyebrows furrowed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out his wallet, holding it out for him. His eyes widened, and he jumped up, running to her and grabbing it._

 _"My wallet! But how?" Rick gasped with a smile._

 _"You let it fall when that wolf hit you," She shrugged, "And I managed to reach it before they took us here. I, well… Thought I might as well get it for you."_

 _"Oh, thank you, Lydia! Thank you so much!" He impulsively hugged her tightly and she let out a yelp. She awkwardly stood still for a while before finally returning his embrace, smiling at his wagging tail. The hug lasted for quite a while until he pulled away with a huge smile on his face, "I could kiss you!"_

 _They both went quiet and Rick's eyes widened as his smile vanished and he looked down, embarrassed._

 _"I mean," He scratched his arm, "I could, but I wouldn't, I mean, not that I wouldn't like to, I'm not saying I want to, I just-" He stuttered._

 _"Hey!" She grabbed him by the shoulders to get him to be quiet, "Don't mention it. For real." She let out a laugh and shook her head, "I just didn't want to die with you being miserable as my last memory, alright?"_

 _Rick smiled again and sighed, "Thank you." He then looked up and bit his lip. "I'm such an idiot." He sighed, "I'll get us killed, all for a wallet."_

 _"Yep," Lydia nodded and laughed at their dire situation like it was all a joke to her, "So, since that's going to be the reason for my death, maybe now you could tell me why you wanted your wallet so badly?"_

 _He looked away, "You'll think it's silly."_

 _She shrugged, "I never expected a noble death anyway."_

 _He laughed under his breath, opening his wallet._

 _"Fine. Well, it was because of this," He picked a picture out of his wallet and handed it to her._

 _She stood still for a while, as if she feared touching the picture, before finally taking it into her hands to get a closer look. It was an old picture of a fox cub, no older than 10 years old, wearing some kind of uniform and standing in front of a door._

 _"He's… Really cute… Whoever he is," She smiled at Rick, waiting for the rest of his explanation._

 _He sighed heavily, "That's my brother, Nick."_

 _Rick interrupted his explanation to place his back against the wall, seeking support as his body felt ill from mentioning the subject at hand. Lydia followed suit, standing beside him._

 _"Our parents died a while back. We have no one else. I promise I'd take care of him. But… I couldn't. So, I had to let him go, at least for a while. Until I can get back to him, that picture is all I have of him. I can't see him, I can't talk to him, and I just…" He braced himself again, rubbing his arms as though he was cold, "I miss him so much," He finished in a whisper._

 _Lydia nodded as she handed the picture back to him._

 _"I think of giving up quite frequently," To her surprise, he continued speaking, "You know, just… Get away. Do something else. End myself, I don't know," He let out a deep breath and looked up, the tears pricking his eyes fighting to shed, "But then I just look at him, and I remember… It's worth it. He's worth fighting for. All I do, I do for him. I just… I need this to keep going. I can't give up. He needs me. And until I get back to him, I won't give up. Someday…" He looked down at the picture lovingly, "It will all be worth it."_

 _Lydia bit her lip with a soft smile, "Where is he now?"_

 _"Orphanage," Rick sighed, "When Rick offered me this job he said that he could arrange it so that Nick won't be put up for adoption and he'll be fed and taken care of for as long as I need, if I pay the monthly fee, until I can get back on my feet to get him back. I don't even know if that's legal or not, so I kept it a secret from him, and I just left him there… He probably thinks I abandoned him. I… I'm a monster." His heart sank in his chest as thought of that, the thought of Nick all alone in the orphanage bringing him physical pain._

 _"I, I see…" Lydia looked down, "Hey?"_

 _He looked up at her._

 _"You're a good brother." She smiled tenderly, "And even though I think we're going to die here, if by some miracle we manage to escape, I hope that you can get back to your brother soon."_

 _He let out a long sigh with a heavy smile, "Thank you. And Lydia?"_

 _She looked at him as well, "Thank you for, you know, helping me out with the case, even if it doesn't end up well, I'd be even more lost here without you. I, I never thought you'd ever do that."_

 _Lydia bit her lip again, "I guess sometimes I'm a bit… impulsive."_

 _He smiled at her tenderly, "I like that."_

 _She gave him a thankful smile and they locked gazes for a few minutes, the awkwardness between them slowly fading away._

 _"Rick, I-"_

 _"Hey, you two," Called a polar bear guard who entered the room and began unlocking the cell, "The boss will see you now."_

 _Rick gulped and looked back at Lydia, taking a deep breath, while the vixen merely nodded. Well, there they went._

 _..._

 _Rick and Lydia stayed in silence as three polar bear guards guided them through a hallway, making sure not to leave room for them to escape, until they reached a fancy door that was labelled 'Office'. One of the bears opened the door while other carelessly kicked the foxes into the room._

 _"Hey!" Lydia hissed at them, but the bears merely shut the door and stood in front of it to make sure the prisoners wouldn't escape. She rolled her eyes and stood up, helping Rick do so in the process._

 _"Sir," One of the polar bears announced, "They're here."_

 _Rick and Lydia turned to the desk, which was seemingly empty, until a little chair spun around and revealed a tiny artic shrew in a fancy suit._

 _"Uh," Rick tilted his head._

 _"Ah, we finally meet," Mr. Big announced._

 _Rick looked at Lydia out of the corner of his eyes, hoping she'd have an explanation, but she seemed to be just as confused._

 _Mr. Big made a sign with his hand and a polar bear pushed Rick until he was right in front of the desk._

 _"Woah," Rick took a deep breath and held out his hands when he got closer to the crime boss, almost falling over with the bear's push. Lydia attempted to step closer as well, only to have the same bear hold her in place by her arm with a strong grip. She growled lowly before looking at Mr. Big once more._

 _"After all this time…"_

 _"Sir, I believe there's been a misunderstanding-" Rick started to say._

 _"Hush!" Mr. Big demanded and Rick went quiet immediately. For such a tiny animal, Mr. Big was quite intimidating, "I waited a long time to finally get my hands on you, you shifty low-life." He spoke softly, calm voice contrasting with his menacing words. "You should know that no one messes with the Big family and survives, young boy."_

 _Rick looked around, confused, "Uh, Sir, I don't know-"_

 _"Quiet!" Mr. Big yelled, and Rick yelped, giving a jump back. "Sheen, I shall not let you escape again this time."_

 _Suddenly it all made sense to Lydia._

 _"Sir, I'm not-"_

 _"Silence! I won't ask again!" He growled, "It's time you meet your end… Prepare to perish in the ice-"_

 _"Bambino!" Called a sweet voice, completely breaking the menacing atmosphere that Mr. Big had stablished there. An older artic shrew lady walked in, with a smile and a heavy Italian accent. She smelled of pasta, "Come eat, dinner's ready- Ma che cosa sta succedendo?" She gasped when she saw the two foxes being held hostage, dropping her glasses._

 _"Gram-mama, I'm in the middle of important business here." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "We've captured the fox who attempted to kidnap you!"_

 _"Che cosa? Bambino, I told you not to do anything like this without telling me first! And did you come to work without a sweater on? It's cold outside!" She retrieved her glasses and adjusted them on her face, looking at a very confused Rick, "Ma che cosa, that's not him!"_

 _Mr. Big looked at her in confusion, "You sure? You said it was an orange fox!"_

 _"Ma certo!" She took her hands to her hips and then softly slapped her grandson on the shoulder, "There must be more than one orange fox in town! Questo è il motivo per cui ti dico di parlare prima con me, you can't just go around and take innocents like that! Let them go!"_

 _"Yes, gram-mama," Mr. Big sighed and snapped his fingers, which got the polar bears to release the foxes from their grips._

 _Grandma Big looked at the foxes and motioned for Rick to approach her, and so he did._

 _"Tell me kid, what's your name?"_

 _"Uh, Richard, ma'am. But you can call me Rick, uh, if you want." He stuttered, still shivering and scared from how close he got to death."_

 _"Che preziosità! Rické!" She smiled, mispronouncing his name due to her heavy accent, "You'll have to forgive my grandson, he can be an animal sometimes."_

 _"Oh, no, please-"_

 _"Fai delle scuse!" She demanded, turning to her grandson again._

 _Mr. Big sighed, "I apologize-"_

 _"Wait, sir," One of the polar bears interrupted carefully, "We must remind you that these two were found within your property without anyone's permission."_

 _Lydia cursed under her breath._

 _"Scusa?" Grandma tilted her head._

 _"Oh, that important detail slipped my mind," Mr. Big looked at Rick with a menacing smile, "Maybe it's not too late for some icing…"_

 _Rick gulped, "I-"_

 _"I'm so sorry about that, Mr. Big," Lydia stepped in, holding Rick's hand and tugging it slightly to get him to be silent, "You see, my husband and I missed our bus when we were coming back from work and somehow managed to get lost! We're new in town," She forced a smile, "We saw this very nice house and thought someone here could give us directions. We never meant to cause so much trouble, we're so terribly sorry."_

 _Rick looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, smiling awkwardly and trying to play along._

 _"Ma che peccato, you two lost out here in this cold! Bambino!" Grandma exclaimed, her sweet smile returning as she turned to Mr. Big once more, "Get your car, tell someone to take this lovely couple home, pronto!"_

 _"Yes, gram-mama," Mr. Big reached for his phone._

 _"Oh, it's not necessary-" Rick started._

 _"I insist!" The old lady smiled, "I can't possibly leave you two out here! It's the least I can do to make up for my grandson's behavior!" She nodded._

 _"Manchas will be here soon," Mr. Big announced, "Just give him your address, he'll take you home safe and sound."_

 _"Thank you so much, sir!" Rick smiled, taking his hand to his chest, "We're, uh, we married recently," He said, playing along and wrapping one arm around Lydia's waist, "And moved here not long ago, so we still don't know the city that well, you see-"_

 _"Honey," Lydia called through her clenched teeth in a forced smile as she tugged his hand down again, "I think they understand it already."_

 _"Recently married! Ma che meraviglia!" Grandma seemed to melt inside when she smiled, "Amore giovane!"_

 _The fox couple smiled and nodded awkwardly._

 _"Bambino!" She called again, "We need to give this nice couple a gift for their wedding!"_

 _"Please, ma'am," Rick held out his hand, afraid that the lie might get out of control, "You don't-"_

 _"I insist! Oh," Grandma called a polar bear and got him to open the drawer on the big desk for her, pulling out a silver watch, "Please have this, as a wedding gift and as a sincere apology," She nodded as the bear held the watch, the light of the room reflecting on it like stars in the sky._

 _The foxes gulped when they realized it was the watch they had to get._

 _"Wow," Rick breathed out, mostly amazed by that coincidence and their sheer luck, but the artic shrew thought he was but blown away by her act._

 _"That's beautiful, Madam," Lydia made a curtsy before she carefully got the watch in her hands with a victory smile, "It means so, so much for my husband and me. You have no idea how much."_

 _"Awh, don't mention it, miss…?"_

 _"Lydia." She nodded._

 _"Lydia and Rické," Grandma took her hands over her heart, tears in her eyes, "You seem a very nice couple. I give you my blessing."_

 _Mr. Big sighed, "Well, anyone who has Gram-mama's blessing has mine as well," He bowed his head, "I'm so terribly sorry for the misunderstandings that took place tonight."_

 _"Don't worry about it, Sir," Lydia forced a smile once more._

 _"Mr. Big," A wolf entered the room, "Manchas is outside."_

 _"Your ride has arrived," Mr. Big told them, "You're free to go."_

 _"Thanks! Let's go, uh, honey," Lydia called as she ran to the door, eager to get out of there._

 _"Wait, Rické," Grandma called, and he approached her. She motioned for him to come closer, so he knelt so that his face was on the same level as hers. She started whispering softly, "I can see you have goodness in your heart. You've come a long, long way; and you deserve to be really happy. And someday, you will be."_

 _Rick blinked in surprise, a tender and genuine smile appearing on his face. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, "Thank you so much, milady."_

 _"Now, go," Grandma motioned towards the door where Lydia stood, waiting for Rick, "Il tuo amore ti sta aspettando."_

 _..._

 _The ride to Rick's apartment was silent, with Lydia sitting on the window seat and Rick uncomfortably close to her and holding her hand, so that their couple façade would remain believable to Mr. Big's driver._

 _She leaned her cheek against the window and looked outside mindlessly as they drove through the city, staring at the horizon. With every breath she took, the window got foggier and she started drawing random shapes on it with her finger._

 _Rick looked at her out of the corner of his eye, eager to break the silence, but unsure how._

 _"Hum, here", He sighed and pointed at the building where he lived, "That's my place."_

 _The jaguar nodded as he parked the car and unlocked the doors._

 _"Thanks", Rick muttered, opening the door and getting out of the car and holding Lydia's hand as she did the same._

 _Manchas nodded once more and left. Only when the car moved away did Rick let out a deep breath he didn't even notice he'd been holding._

 _"Holy… That was a close one," He wiped the sweat from his forehead._

 _"Tell me about it," She nodded, "But hey, mission accomplished!" She said as she took the watch out of her pocket and winked._

 _"Yeah!" He smiled excitedly, "I can't even believe it! How did you know that lady was going to go easy on us if we pretended to be married?"_

 _"She's a grandma," Lydia shrugged, "All grandmas are the same: loving, caring, and into romances and happy endings, all of that." She looked down for a while with a sad expression before she looked back at Rick and smiled, "But your idea got us the watch! Saying we were recently married was a genius idea!"_

 _"Thanks," He laughed, "I was just, desperate to play along. Who knew that would get us the mission done! Sheen won't even believe if we tell him that was our tactic."_

 _"Tell me about it," She nodded, "You and I… We make a pretty good team."_

 _Rick smiled, ears perking up in surprise, "I… Yeah, we do."_

 _She smiled back at him before silence took over, lasting long enough to become awkward._

 _"Well," Lydia scratched the back of her neck, "I should probably go back home now. I could use some rest after our adventure."_

 _"Go home? But it's late, and it's dangerous to walk alone at this hour," Rick pouted, "You can sleep with me if you want."_

 _Lydia raised an eyebrow and gave a step back, Rick's eyes widening._

 _"No, I mean, not with – with me, but with me in my apartment, just, in the same place, you know, actually sleep," He held his hands out but then took them to his face, hiding his warming cheeks from her, "Ah, ignore me, I'm such an idiot."_

 _Lydia laughed quietly but wholeheartedly. She took a deep breath and looked at him, scratching her arm, "It is quite late yeah… If you're sure I wouldn't be a bother…"_

 _"Never! I mean, uh, of course not," Rick tried to play it cool, feeling his cheeks warming up again, "Come on!"_

 _She shook her head and smiled before following him inside._

 _…_

 _Lydia sat on Rick's bed, wearing one of Rick's shirt that hugged her small figure like an oversized dress. Her fur was still moisty from the shower she took, and she covered herself with a blanket. She stayed in silence, thoughtful, as Rick took a shower as well._

 _Soon the bathroom door opened, and Rick came out with a shirt and his boxers, the fog from the warm water filled the small room and created a cozy atmosphere. Lydia's cheeks warmed up and she looked aside._

 _"Your clothes should be dry by tomorrow," Rick told her as he grabbed a pillow and a blanket for himself, "Anything else you need?"_

 _Lydia shook her head._

 _"Ok," Rick sighed, "Uh, I'll sleep on the couch. If you need anything you know where to find me."_

 _He started going towards the door of the room when Lydia looked down, "Hey, Rick?"_

 _He stopped and looked back at her._

 _"You don't…" She gulped and looked aside, never looking directly at him, "You don't have to sleep on the couch, you know. I don't mind sharing the bed, if you want, I mean- yeah."_

 _Rick's eyes widened, and he looked down, "I, it's ok, I'll just sleep there so you can have more space and comfort, I mean, you are a guest after all-"_

 _"And you are the owner of the house," She smiled at him and moved herself to the side of the bed, patting the empty space beside her on the mattress, "I'd feel bad if you slept there because of me."_

 _He scratched the back of his head, "I- You really sure?"_

 _She nodded, "You were nice to me when no one else was. I… I want to be nice to you too."_

 _"Well…" He gulped and went to his bed, sitting on the other corner of the bed._

 _In a couple of swift moves, they found themselves tucked in, backs at each other. After quickly saying their goodnights, an awkward silence fell over them for a couple minutes; as their unsteady breaths gave away that they were awake._

 _"Rick," Lydia propped herself up by her elbows and looked at him, sighing, "Are you asleep?"_

 _"No," He replied, rolling over to look at her, "I, can't really sleep."_

 _"Me neither," She took a deep breath, "I was… thinking about everything that happened today."_

 _"Yeah," He smiled, "Weird day."_

 _"Sure was," She laughed, "Did you see Sheen's face when I said I'd be going with you?"_

 _He laughed as well, "Oh boy, he was so mad! You're crazy to stand up against him."_

 _"Well, I had to do something." She shrugged._

 _"You… You really didn't have," He pointed out carefully._

 _"What was I supposed to do?" She raised an eyebrow, "Let you go there on your own?"_

 _"I don't know," He shrugged, "But when I found you with your face bleeding, you said I didn't have to help you… That I should have let you to it."_

 _Her eyes widened in realization and she gulped, "Yeah."_

 _An uncomfortable silence fell over them once more._

 _"I guess I- I think I, I just didn't want to let you die or something," She looked away, pulling the blanket up to her shoulders, "You… You were the first one to ever be nice to me in any way. I'd be sad if… If I lost you. If WE lost you," She added, "You know, if the team lost you."_

 _He giggled at her, "I'd be sad if I lost you too." He said, and did not correct himself, unlike her._

 _It was when Rick reached for her hand and held it in his, squeezing it softly. Her heart raced up and his throat went dry. He wasn't sure of what to do next, so all he did was look at her eyes – those big yellow eyes that had enchanted him from the very first moment she looked at him – while she looked at his._

 _And the next thing they both knew was that their lips had met, and they shared a chaste, but passionate kiss._

 _They pulled away to breathe, gulping and breathing heavily._

 _"Stay with me tonight?" Rick asked her with hope in his eyes._

 _Her eyes sparkled as well as she moved to kiss him again, warm breath on his neck, his hands pulling her close to him by her waist as he slowly ran them across her back to feel all of her._

 _"Yes," She quickly broke the kiss, "Every night."_

 _Rick smiled, his heartbeat suddenly filling his body with a wave of warmth. And as they kissed once again, getting themselves closer and closer to each other each time, feeling more of the other's skin as clothes began to be shed, they felt as though they were alone in the world – and as though everything, even if for that brief moment, had fallen into place._

* * *

 _The sun had just risen, its rays chasing away the reminiscent cold air of the previous night and alongside the quietude of the morning it created a cozy, calming atmosphere for all animals who woke up to face that new beautiful day._

 _Well, all but one vixen; whose chaotic state of mind contrasted heavily with the peace outside._

 _Lydia hadn't slept well that night, for a new worry derived from a mysterious new pain had kept her up all night long. However, it wasn't her lack of sleep that left her that restless. In fact, in that moment, she felt more awake than ever before._

 _It was the waiting that weighted down on her._

 _The test laying on the sink seemed to be mocking her by taking its sweet time to give her the faithful result. It felt like she'd been staring down at the damn thing for an eternity now; as if she had been waiting hours for a result that was promised to her in minutes._

 _She allowed herself to hope that the five minutes she needed to wait had passed already, and the test hadn't changed simply because there was nothing to show, she wasn't pregnant after all, it was just a false alarm, and everything would be alright._

 _Only she knew that wasn't the truth. Well, it might be, but she couldn't be sure just yet. After all, barely a minute had passed, and she was aware of that. Even if it felt like days._

 _Lydia stepped away from the sink and braced herself, a silly attempt to protect herself from the feared possibility – as if she could change reality if she wished hard enough. A deep breath she took, closing her eyes to contain the tears. She told herself the test wasn't ready yet, nothing was set in stone. There was still hope. She had to hope._

 _At that point in her life, hope was all she had left to lose._

 _Her head snapped to the side when she heard the bed moving in the room behind her, her heart racing fast inside her chest. She didn't look away from the fox under the covers until she was sure that Sheen was still asleep, thanking heavens with a sigh. This was already hard enough as it was, she didn't need the sick bastard to wake up and make it all even worse._

 _"Come on…" She muttered, leaning over the sink once more and tapping her fingers on the white ceramic. She looked up and bit down on her lower lip, so hard that the skin broke and she used her tongue to wipe away the single drop of blood that came out, paying the wound no mind._

 _Lydia realized that the five minutes would soon be complete, the truth would be told. Still looking up, she grabbed the test in her paw and held it tight as she whispered a silent prayer. She had never really believed in God, but she needed one right then._

 _Her heart pounded inside her chest as she moved her head down, mouthing another prayer in the few last seconds she had to hope before she knew what her fate was. But when her eyes met the small piece of plastic in her paw, any hope in her flew away like a scared dove._

 _Two lines. Two lines meant positive._

 _Lydia took her paw to her mouth as her eyes quickly filled up with unshed tears. She shook her head and tried to deny what was already, but for a few last moments of confusion, the truth._

 _Reality came crashing down on her like a wave that comes and destroys the city with its rage. She dropped the test on the floor and absentmindedly walked backwards until her back hit the cold bathroom wall and she tried to contain the gulps and hiccups that escaped her._

 _The wall of unshed tears in her eyes broke down and they soon began rolling down her face, running down her cheek and dripping on the floor. The fierce, strong-minded vixen that mammals knew her to be had disappeared and not a shred of her could be found now. In that moment, Lydia was the living image of hopelessness and desperation._

 _Her heart sunk in her chest and she laid a paw over her stomach – where a new life was beginning to form, she now knew. A new heart, a new soul, her child. The child of a love that was never meant to be._

 _She silently cursed the moment she first crossed paths with the orange fox that fathered her baby – cursed him for making her love him. And more than that, she cursed herself for letting him into her heart in the first place._

 _Lydia always hated it when Sheen called her a stupid girl. But now she thought that maybe she deserved that title._

 _There was nothing else she could do, nothing else she could lose, and nothing could fix that. She couldn't run away from a problem that she carried within her._

 _Without any other option in mind, she sat down on the cold bathroom floor and cried. She didn't hold back anything anymore, allowing the waterfalls to run down her face as her body shook and she let out small whimpers._

 _The test now lay on the floor, forgotten._

 _..._

 _Lydia stood still in front of the bathroom door with her arms folded over her chest and her head facing down. Her eyes moved up to meet the sleeping fox in the bed he forced her to share with him and for a quick moment she envied how peaceful he looked._

 _Her cheeks were still wet from the tears she'd shed minutes before, but at least her eyes were no longer leaking. It had taken her so long to stop crying that she was surprised Sheen hadn't woken up in the meantime._

 _Had it been any other day, she'd be happy that he was sleeping still – after all, that meant more peace and quiet for her. She never thought there'd be a day where she'd willingly wake him up._

 _"Sheen," She sighed as she crawled back into bed and sat beside him, "Sheen, wake up."_

 _He responded by grumbling and feeling around the bed until he found a pillow to throw over his head, blocking out the vixen's voice and the sunlight that entered the room through the cracks in the window._

 _"Sheen!" She frowned and shook his arm, "Wake up."_

 _Lydia waited for a reaction, but he did nothing._

 _"Sheen, please," Her voice cracked as her eyes watered again and a drop of sweat ran down her head, "We need to talk."_

 _Sheen let a grunt and ignored her once more._

 _"Sheen!" She yelped and shook him again, this time pushing him off the bed. He rolled over and hit the floor with a thud and a pained moan._

 _"Ow," He sat up on the floor, reaching for the back of his head to stop the throbbing pain he'd gotten there from the fall. He looked up at her and she looked down at him with an unapologetic frown, "Gee, what's up with you?"_

 _"Seems to be the only way to wake you up," She rolled her eyes and folded her arms._

 _"Ugh," He grunted again and got up from the floor, stretching himself. His head turned toward the wall that had a clock on it and he saw it was still early, "This better be important, kitten."_

 _"Don't call me that," She sighed, "And yes, it is. Trust me, I'd never talk to you if it wasn't." She pouted._

 _"What happened?" His eyes widened, "Crimson code?"_

 _"No," She held out her hands to calm him down, "Nothing of the sort."_

 _"Oh, thank heaven." He laid a hand on his chest and let out a deep breath to slow his heart down. Raising an eyebrow, he sat on the bed. "Well, if it's not a crimson code it can't be so important that we can't sleep for a little longer."_

 _Sheen was about to lay down again, but Lydia snatched his pillow away from him._

 _"Hey!"_

 _"Sheen, I'm serious!" She threw the pillow against him._

 _"Ugh, what is it?" He threw the pillow on the floor and growled at her, finally giving her the attention that she'd been demanding._

 _"I…" She started, but as soon as she did, her face drained of color. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no more words came out. She'd been waiting for a chance to talk, but now that it had come, she lacked the strength to. Sheen's eyes on her made her stomach turn inside her and she had to look away before she vomited. "I…"_

 _"Come on," He urged her, a shred of genuine concern in his voice. Lydia wondered whether he was worried about her, or about what kind of threat her news could bring to him. Probably the latter._

 _"Sheen," She looked down and took a deep breath, her heart skipping a beat as she closed her eyes, "I'm pregnant."_

 _Lydia did not look back at Sheen after that, for time seemed to freeze after her words had been spoken. If she had, she'd have seen that Sheen's face was void of any emotion, his mouth a thin line._

 _"Ha," He let out a breathless laugh, "Good one, honey. You almost got me there…"_

 _Her eyes shot open as he patted her shoulder in a friendly manner and laughed more. His unexpected reaction got her to gasp and she just stared at him in silence; which seemed to convince him as his laughter started to die._

 _"Lydia?" He gasped, "You're… you're joking, right?"_

 _She remained silent, hoping that would be enough to answer his question._

 _"But- no," He began laughing again, although this time it felt much more forced and lasted way shorter, "You can't be pregnant, we've never…"_

 _Lydia looked down and clenched her eyes closed. She knew he'd come to that realization sooner or later, and she had no idea how he'd react to that. He had tried to get his way with her before, several times, but that was a line she'd never let him cross – she would rather die than touch him like that._

 _Sheen began wheezing, "No, it can't- Are you absolutely sure?"_

 _Lydia longed for the earlier moments of the day when she also had that doubt – when she still had hope._

 _"Yeah," She looked down and scratched her arm, "I am. I, I was hoping to talk to you about-"_

 _"Who?" He interrupted her with a low growl, his laughter now completely gone._

 _"Hum?" Her ears perked up and she breathed heavily._

 _"It's obviously not mine," He said in a growl again, clenching his fists, "So, whose baby is it?"_

 _Her nose twitched, and she looked down to avoid his eyes once more, "That's not important. It's mine, that's all you need to know."_

 _"Who's the father, Lydia?" He grabbed her muzzle and forced her to look up at him._

 _She let out a muffled yelp as she pushed herself away from his grip. "It doesn't matter!"_

 _"Fuck yeah, it does!" His voice got louder, and he grabbed her wrists to pull her close to him, "I want to know!"_

 _"It doesn't-"_

 _She was cut off when he yanked her closer to him, holding her wrists so tightly that they began to hurt._

 _"Sheen, please…" She cried out._

 _He responded by giving her wrists another tight pull in a painful angle that sent her screaming._

 _"Fine," She sputtered out among her cries, "It's, it's Rick."_

 _Sheen let her go with a gasp and her tired body hit the mattress with a soft thud. For a few seconds she forgot that he was there as she rubbed her wrists and whimpered in pain, the unscarred wounds on them stinging from the previous pressure Sheen's hands put on them._

 _Soon, Sheen was laughing again – manically. He put his hand on his forehead and laughed more, slapping the mattress as he did so. Lydia looked up at him in confusion and sat up._

 _"Oh, wow," He breathed out, "Goodie? Are you for real? Damn, who knew that bastard's got game!"_

 _She frowned at him and then chuckled along uncomfortably, but her laughter was short-lived._

 _A sharp pain irradiated from her face and she fell on the mattress again. Sheen had slapped her, hard. His laughter had been replaced by silence, his smile had turned into a mad frown._

 _Sheen then took a deep breath and stood up from the bed, walking toward his desk and grabbing the shirt he'd left on the floor the night before. "Get ready, we're leaving."_

 _With a hand on her face, she looked at him and tilted her head. "What?"_

 _"I know someone who can help us get rid of your little… problem." He said as though that sentence brought a sour taste to his mouth._

 _"What do you-" Lydia got pale when she realized what he meant, "No!" She yelled and laid a hand over her stomach protectively, "I'm not doing that!"_

 _Sheen's ears perked up, "Excuse me?"_

 _"I'm not… I'm not doing that!" She spoke up, feeling newfound strength come to her._

 _"Darling," He smiled with a heavy sigh, clearly not as happy as he tried to appear. He approached her again, but she made sure to keep enough distance between them that he couldn't touch her, "You can't possibly want to go through with this. Do you really want to have a baby? I mean, just think of the consequences! And how would you even care for it? You're not even responsible enough to take care of yourself, or you wouldn't be in this… situation right now."_

 _She gulped, and her voice trembled, "I, I didn't think I could get pregnant, because, you know, of what I am. It was an honest mistake."_

 _"Of course, what you are," Sheen smiled mischievously, "That's another problem, isn't it?"_

 _She eyed him up and down once, raising an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"_

 _"Oh well," He sighed with a sly smile, "One would think that a baby of yours might not turn out to be… normal."_

 _Lydia's eyes widened as he sat on the bed beside her, his words sinking in._

 _"I mean, just think of it!" He continued, "A little freak, a little monster growing inside you, clawing at your guts as soon as it begins to form..." Lydia gasped and Sheen knew he'd gotten to her, "But if you get rid of it now…" He ran his finger across her shoulder and she shivered before she pushed him away._

 _"No!" Lydia jumped up from the bed and stomped her foot, "I am not doing that. I, I don't care what you say, I will have this child!"_

 _Lydia breathed heavily and stared at Sheen, ready to defend herself if necessary; but all he did was stare back at her in silence. He didn't look angry, or mad. He just looked rather annoyed._

 _"Alright," He sighed and stood up from the bed, "You got yourself pregnant, and you want to carry on with it. So, do tell me, what are your plans?"_

 _Once again, Lydia opened her mouth and no words were spoken. He'd gotten her cornered again, and he was aware of that. She had no options, no choice. All she did was look down and brace herself with a long sigh, her eyes leaking again._

 _Sheen's straight face slowly turned into a smile._

 _"Don't cry, my dear," He approached her and laid his hands on her shoulders. She immediately tensed up but didn't move away. "I think I may have an… alternative for you." She shot him a menacing glance and he stepped back, holding out his hands, "Not that alternative. I have a plan for little Goodie Junior and you, a propose, if you will."_

 _Lydia watched him carefully as she realized she didn't have many options - refusing to listen to him, as tempting as it was, wasn't a smart choice. Her ears folded back, and she nodded for him to continue._

 _He rubbed his hands together with a sly smile. "I just need to know how far you'd be willing to go for this kid..."_

* * *

 **Wow, almost 10,000 words, and we still don't know much of Lydia's past. I think she's one of my favorites OCs I've ever created!**

 **So yeah, this took really long and I had to rewrite it a lot of times. Please review if you feel like it! Thank you so much for reading and sorry for the long wait. See yah next chapter (which hopefully won't take as long).**


	25. Shots

**Hello guys!**

 **Oh my god, it's been so long! I missed writing, but I haven't done it in a couple months. So, here's a short chapter to help me get back on track. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"And I win yet again!" Nick proudly lowered the cards he had on his hands and laid them on the table with a sly smile.

Finnick and the wolf who was playing with them both let out a groan and lowered their cards as well, bitterly accepting their loss. Nick smiled and pulled their chips closer to him, his already big pile getting bigger with another victory.

"I'll say Fox, you surely are a very lucky guy…" The wolf folded his arms and scrunched his face, playing with one of the few chips he hadn't lost yet, "You better not have any tricks up your sleeve…"

Nick let out a weak laugh as he took his hand to his chest and faked shock, "Come on, do I look like someone who would steal on a poker game just to get a mere dollar? I mean, if we were playing for a hundred then I _might_ consider it…"

The wolf raised an eyebrow, unamused.

Nick sighed, rolled his eyes and humorously rolled up both sleeves of his black jacket, "See? No tricks up these sleeves. I assure you my victories are a 100% luck… and of course, skills." He said with a smirk.

"Ah, don't be a sore loser, Thor, Fox here is a good player, I'll give him that." Finnick intervened, adjusting the cigarette in his mouth before looking around, "Crap, the hot waitress is not here yet. Restart the game, I'll go fetch myself some more beer."

Nick and Thor nodded as the small fox jumped out of his seat and walked towards the bar, disappearing among the dancing crowd on the dancefloor of the bar. As Nick began shuffling the cards again, Thor laid his chin on the back of his paw and leaned his arm on the table.

"Sorry pal, but what's your name again?" He asked.

"Fox McCloud, at your service," Nick nodded and smiled, trying to sound as laidback as possible.

"Hum," Thor sighed, "I've never seen you before. You're not from around here, are you?"

"Uh," Nick's eyes quickly moved around as he thought of what to say next. He hadn't had time to come up with an elaborate backstory for his character, just with a name. But he could not afford to lose his cool right now, "No. I mean, I've been here in the town before, just not to this club." He smiled at the wolf, pretending to be focused on the cards as he began counting small piles to distribute among the players.

Thor nodded before leaning backwards to stretch his back against the chair's back, "Well, you seem like a cool guy. You should definitely come around more often."

Relief washed over Nick's body.

"Oh, I will." He bit his lip as he tried to carry on with the conversation, "So, how often do you come here?"

Thor shrugged, "Almost every day. It's a cool place to…" He got sidetracked as a female wolf passed by them and he followed her with his gaze, tongue hanging out of his mouth, "… get loose, if you know what I mean." He turned back and winked at Nick.

"Definitely," Nick nodded and reached for his glass of water – he did not want to risk getting drunk and ruining everything. "I've heard a lot about this place and what goes on here."

The wolf's smile vanished, and he stared at Nick in silence for a while.

"What do you mean by 'what goes on here'?" He asked carefully, ears folding back.

Nick took note of his strange behavior before trying to play it cool again, "Uh, you know, the games, the dances, the chicks…" He forced a smile and shrugged.

"Uhm…" Thor squinted as he reached for his bottle of beer and took it to his lips, seemingly more serious than before, "And who was the one who told you so much about this place? Finnick?"

Nick's tail wagged as he finally saw a chance to investigate some; "Actually, it was an old friend of mine. He said he came here a lot, but I haven't seen him in a while… His name was Coy. Do you know him?"

Thor's eyes widened, and he coughed, chocking on the beer he drank and spitting it out. Nick took his hands to his face, trying to avoid the drops that flew his way.

"Thor?" Nick stood up to approach the wolf and pat his back, "Are you alright?"

Thor wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket before pushing the fox away with such strength that Nick almost fell backwards.

"I, I have to go to the bathroom," He said before standing up and quickly walking away, harshly pushing anyone who happened to be on his way.

Nick frowned and looked to his side when he spotted Finnick coming back to their table. When he looked back to try to see where Thor was going, he had already disappeared among the crowd. However, he was pretty sure that the direction Thor chose to go was not the direction of the bathrooms.

"Hey, N- Fox," Finnick said as he jumped back to his seat and looked around, "Where's Thor?"

"I, I don't know, Finnick," Nick told him as he started to go on the direction the wolf had run off to, "But I will find out."

* * *

Sheen sat on the chair of his office with his eyes glued on his phone, the walls around him trembling slightly because of the loud music and heavy dancing going on in the upper floor; but the noise did not bother him in the slightest, for he was used to it.

Sheen absent-mindedly moved his head to the rhythm of the song being played as he scrutinized some of the recent news – the ones that were pertinent to him. He had to admit he felt a guilty pleasure in knowing that he caused all of that, while everyone else – the victims, especially – were left clueless.

 _"… with no sign of forced entry or any clues whatsoever."_

 _"… although there was one sighting, the suspect seemed to vanish into thin air…"_

 _"Police still hasn't solved the case…"_

At first, he read then with a smile. Those seemed to be crimes straight out of a novel, for they were practically perfect and impossible to solve, the work of a mastermind. However, after scrolling some more, Sheen bit his lip.

" _Raccoon, 37 years old, murdered in a fight."_

Sheen's heart started beat fast.

 _"The killer remains unidentified."_

So far, so good, it seemed. But he had made a mistake, and he knew it. In the rush of the fight, he'd left the body and the weapon of the crime behind. He'd left them precious clues that could lead them right to him.

 _"Anyone with information regarding the fox, wolf or polar bear involved is asked to come forward…"_

Sheen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his muzzle, thinking to himself that this would be a very opportune time to still have that Rick on his team. After all, taking the blame was all that goodie was ever good for…

His thoughts were interrupted when the door behind him was opened. He swirled his chair around and was met with Lydia entering his office in a rush. He raised an eyebrow and checked the time.

"My, aren't you late today," He tapped his fingers on his knee. "Where were you?"

"Hi to you too," She stuck her tongue out and ran to the closet in the corner of the room, "I'm sorry. I was out for my break and saw a police car. Had to take a different route, I didn't want them to see me."

"Ugh, fuck, police?" He cursed under his breath, "What were they doing here?"

Lydia shook her head, "No idea, but I didn't want to be interrogated either way."

"Good girl," He cooed, and she rolled her eyes, "But get going, your shift has started already."

"I'm getting ready for it," She gestured to the dress she had picked up from the closet, "Or do you want me to go work like this?" She then gestured to the old clothes she was wearing, "I mean, I could, but I doubt I'll get as many tips dressed this way."

Sheen waved his hand as to dismiss her, but then suddenly gasped and inhaled sharply, as though he could not get enough air in his lungs. A sharp pain irradiated from his chest and he stood up and leaned on the desk, coughing and sputtering with great difficulty.

"Oh, my, not again," Lydia said as she ran to him.

Sheen gestured to a drawer in his desk and Lydia opened it, picking up a small medical bottle out and handing it out to Sheen – although he snatched it from her hand before she could give it to him. In a few quick seconds he filled a syringe and injected himself in the arm with the red liquid; going back to his normal state a few seconds later.

Lydia breathed out in relief and took a hand to her chest, "Man, I honestly hate when that happens," she muttered.

"Wow, yeah, must be so hard on _you_ ," Sheen retorted, looking into the now empty drawer, "Fuck, that was the last one."

Her ears perked up. _Oh, boy._

"Come here," He called and motioned for her to approach him.

Lydia sighed, took her jacket off and tossed it aside to expose her arms. She waited as Sheen opened another drawer and got a new needle and a piece of cotton imbibed in alcohol to rub it with. Once that was done he held her arm tightly to keep her blood flow still and quickly injected her with the syringe, drawing blood from her arm until the syringe was full.

Lydia hissed when he less than carefully pulled the needle out and her blood dripped from her arm onto the floor. Sheen held the full syringe in front of the light and held it up like some sort of prize before he transferred her blood to the small bottle and closed it.

"Remind me to call Doug about this tomorrow," He told her as he handed her a tissue.

Lydia frowned and took the tissue, pressing it against her arm to stop her bleeding. Only then she noticed the blood scattered across Sheen's desk. She knew that could not have come from her nor him being injected.

"You coughed blood again," She pointed out carefully.

Sheen turned his back on her.

"You're getting worse," She stated, "The shots are not working anymore."

He ignored her and just went back to reading stuff on his phone, "Go to work already, or this will come out of your paycheck."

Lydia sighed and just turned away, going back to the closet and picking the dress she'd dropped on the floor before going to the bathroom to get dressed. However, she stopped right before she could enter the bathroom and picked up a notebook from her pocket instead.

Sheen was so distracted that he didn't even see it when she approached him again and laid a note on the table, right in front of him.

 _Call Doug. Now._

He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're getting worse. Your crises are happening more and more often. You should call him as soon as you can – unless you want to have an attack while we're out of meds." She shrugged and walked away.

Sheen watched as she entered the bathroom, and with his head hanging low, called the sheep's number immediately.

* * *

 **Like I said, short chapter. I didn't want to start writing again with a huge one to avoid tiring me out and making a shitty one, but also because there wasn't a good place to stop after this. So, the next chapter will probably be a long one.**

 **This probably brings a bunch of questions, but with the investigation starting, answers will come soon. And we get to see what Sheen is up too…**

 **For those who want to know, I started college a while back and these few months have been crazy. Not only that but my doctor changed my medication, so my mood has been really weird, and I just did not want to write as much. I lost motivation and thought I'd have to cancel/hiatus my fics, but thankfully that got a little better and I was able to get it going again!**

 **I'm so thankful for all the reviews/follows/favs; that really helps me. Sorry if this chapter was a little rusty, I promise I'll try to get back on track with better ones and hopefully start uploading more frequently.**

 **See yah next chapter!**


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